Crossbow
by emilyrabbittxoxo
Summary: She was alone. She was weak. She was vulnerable. She was scarred. After the world ended none of that matter, but he was there. Daryl Dixon was her savior, she just didn't know it yet. (Give it a chance please!) Ratings could change!
1. Chapter 1

Aliyah Summers' back rested against the cool brick building as her chest moved in an unsteady rhythm as she tried to catch her breath. She shuffled the knife that weighed so much between her hands, the warm Southern air soiled with the heavy scent of decaying bodies, the scent of death. The young woman's hair stuck to her forehead as sweat rolled down it, dripping off of her nose and cheeks onto the bloodied ground. Previously, these grounds were home to a pharmacy and liquor store but now, that the world we used to know had vanished, it was the home of bad memories. It hurt Aliyah to think of the past, when someone could say I love you without saying goodbye at the same time. Nowadays, words meant nothing, material items were worthless and love would get you nowhere. Memories were pain, looking into the eyes of someone; into their soul was nothing but agony. The past struggles didn't matter; these were the days where everyone was equal, where you could talk to strangers, when you had to put trust in them. There were strength in numbers but also danger; there was a thin line to having an advantage or having a disadvantage, one too many could throw a whole group off and when it came down to it, Aliyah was always the disadvantage, she was still young and fragile and never had to face the struggles of the real world. Mostly, no one wanted her because she was inexperienced; she never fought for her country or even held a gun before the world went to shit. Now, she was plenty experienced when it came to weaponry, after her family died and she had joined her first group, when they were done with her they gave her a knife, a gun, some ammo, a canteen and gave their wishes and sent her off into the cold world where the dead could do more damage than the living.

Aliyah stood as soon as she caught her breath and decided to continue forward, a prison tower was visible, probably only a few miles down the road from where she stood. She hoped that it was empty of the living at least. She could handle the dead now, she could take down any walker that came across her, and she'd gotten past a few herds before this day and was sure she could do it again. Everyone's detrimental quality is their proneness to fear, fear is what would get you killed. Rounding a corner, Aliyah was taken off guard as a walker hissed as it realized she was alive, she stood in shock for a few seconds and then it registered in her brain and she grasped her knife and walked toward the walker and inspected it before ramming the knife deep into its brain. The walker was probably around twenty-five and was dressed in casual attire with a liquor store nametag strung around its neck and a gold wedding band around his left ring finger, Cole Gray his nametag read. "I'm sorry Cole, you didn't deserve this." She said slipping her knife out of the walker's skull and silently prayed for whoever Cole Gray used to be as a few tears slid down her cheeks. Aliyah would never be a killer; she never was fond of violence and never would be. It stung knowing the walker's name, knowing that he was a working married man, a man who had an undetermined fate ahead of him; he probably would've been a father someday if he wasn't already one.

Aliyah pushed open the door to the pharmacy-liquor store and began scavenging. She picked up five half-filled antibiotics and found a few candy bars, enough for a few days. Her fingers slid against the counter and into a compact mirror. She picked it up and looked in it, her blonde hair still shining due to the sweat and the bath she'd taken in a river this morning, her green eyes still just as vibrant as ever but her expression showed her exhaustion, hunger, and the damage this lifestyle was doing to her, speckles of blood from Cole were splattered on her face along with a bit of dirt under her eyes. She touched her gold necklace that she could've traded for food in the beginning of this mess but she refused to let it go, it kept her fighting and without it she would feel just as worthless as she really was. Her grandfather passed away nine months before the world fell and she had received it a month later from her grandmother because she didn't have anything of his to cherish but now everyday a little piece of him kept her going. She slid the mirror into her pocket, something about looking at herself forced her to remember, a pain so stingingly numbing, almost like when she used to cut herself, yet another painstaking memory. She thought sighing. She hopped over the counter and found a twenty-four pack of water. She grabbed three, it would last her at least two days, she could always come back. She smiled as her hand grasped a glass bottle. She lifted it up as the sun hit it, making it glisten. "Vodka." She whispered in exasperation, she was in desperate need of some kind of mind numbing liquid. She put all of her found supplies into her back after finding a few cans of beans. Beans would sustain her better than anything, since she wasn't too fond of meat in the first place, she was used to them. Her bag was getting heavier by the day; the stock of ammo that never seemed to end was taking up space and becoming a disadvantage. She was carrying around about fifteen pounds of supplies around on her back. Hopping over the counter again Aliyah walked outside the ever burning heat hitting her. She took a deep breath and ventured on.

The prison tower drew closer and closer, a smile crossed Aliyah's face as she realized that it was only a fifteen minute walk from there. As the full view of the prison came into Aliyah's spectrum of vision she noticed a few figures walking about the front, she couldn't make out if they were walkers or humans. She could only hope they were walkers. A twig snapped behind her and she whirled around. "Who the fuck are you?" A gruff voice demanded.

"That's none of your business." She whispered between clenched teeth. Within a few seconds she was pinned against a tree.

"You think you're so fucking smart, I'd have to be retarded not to know that you're heading towards my prison."

"So what if I am?" She asked.

"It's already occupied you dipshit." He said. Aliyah raised an eyebrow at the man who was hidden from her sight, the bright sun shining on his back; he was just a black figure.

"Ok, fuck off; I'll leave, just get your worthless hands off of me."

"Worthless, huh?" He asked Aliyah could hear the venom in his voice.

"Damn straight." She said pushing him off of her.

"Come on, you wanted the prison, you can have fun being a fucking prisoner." He said pushing her in front of him, pushing an arrow into her back.

Aliyah's P.O.V…

"Daryl, what the hell is going on here?" A man in a sheriff's uniform asked as the man, well Daryl I guess, pushed me through the entrance of the prison gates.

"Got ourselves a pet prisoner."

"She's just a kid, Daryl."

"I ain't no damn kid." I said gritting my teeth together.

"How old are you?" He asked.

"About twenty-three, lost track of my days." I said shrugging.

"Haven't we all? I'm Rick Grimes, you got a name?" He asked softly as his blue eyes bored into mine.

"Aliyah, look I'm real sorry I'm causing all this trouble, I was just gonna see if the prison was available but your group member here, decided that he was gonna play games."

"It's alright Aliyah; we won't be holding you captive." He said.

"Thank you, now Daryl could you be kind enough to let me go?" I asked and he released me and I turned around looking into blue eyes. I stared him down a bit, glaring into his eyes, no matter how much it used to hurt, his eyes were endless but they held nothing. The reason why I felt no pain because I detected nothing from his eyes, his eyes were empty.

"Looks like a herd followed you guys, you armed?" Rick asked.

"Yeah." I said tearing my eyes away from Daryl and looked at the small herd of walkers that were approaching the prison. I slid off my bag and took out a gun and some ammo along with a silencer.

"That's a lot of weapons you got there, Aliyah." Rick said looking into my bag.

"And?" I asked looking up at him after zippering my bag closed.

"That's a lot of weapons." He said.

"You gonna stop drooling and handle this situation?" Daryl asked, getting impatient.

"Anyone need a silencer?" I asked.

"I do." Rick said. I tossed one to him and with that we were shooting all of the walkers down. I was pretty precise in delivering bullets to the head, we all were. Daryl was using his crossbow, I guess that was his weapon of choice, he knew how to use it really well.

After all of the walkers were handled Daryl opened the gate and collected his arrows. His muscles flexed each time he stretched his arm down to yank the arrows out from where they were embedded in the walker's brains. I couldn't help but watch in awe as the well-built man did his dirty work. It was stupid of me; really, I knew that looking would plant a seed deep inside me and it would only take the smallest amount of affection to send me reeling in romantic fantasies. A smile, whisper, or tender touch, anything that hadn't happened in a long time would be all it took for me to be head over heels. I wasn't one to fall in love easily, at least I never was, I never believed in the love at first sight bullshit and never will. Love is a tender and delicate thing that takes time and dedication from both partners. Love cannot be faked; those who cannot see that are simply blind. I wasn't inexperienced when it came to men and relationships; I could see through their facades and discover their true intentions. At the beginning of every relationship both partners had intent whether obvious or not, most of the time they won't work out because every person is set on their success and are selfish in relationships when they discover their partner isn't what they had in mind.

As I drool over Daryl, the one reason I am here, the thought crosses my mind that I could easily walk through the gates and go back to the pharmacy to set up camp until I find something more stable but I don't want to. Something makes me want to be a part of this group and help them succeed. The overall vibe of this place isn't malicious but rather homey. I looked around as other people walked out of the prison, a young boy, a pregnant woman, an elderly man on crutches and a few other people. "Rick, who is this?" The pregnant woman asked reaching for him.

"This is Aliyah, Daryl found her and brought her back, he was suggesting keeping her as a prisoner." Rick said his eyebrows slightly rising as his gaze averted to Daryl, who was just closing the gate and securing the lock.

"That's absurd, she's adorable, how old are you sweetie?" The pregnant woman asked.

"I'm twenty-three." Yeah, we'll go with that, I was about twenty-three at least. I thought.

"Dad, is she staying here for good?" The little boy asked. It was sweet that the small family was staying together after all of this time.

"Maybe, Carl, I don't know." Rick said shrugging and sent me a sympathetic glance. "I think the group would welcome you, well you know, besides Daryl."

"I heard my name." Daryl said crossing his arms as he stood next to a blonde with blue eyes, probably his girl or sexual partner at least. I thought.

"We're just talking." Rick explained.

"Talking about letting this woman we don't know stay with us, you believe that Daryl?" The blonde said shaking her head. Daryl's jaw clenched as his eyes became hard.

"No fucking way, look at her, she's useless." He said.

"Daryl, you brought her here for a reason, right?" Rick asked.

"She pissed me off, I was just showing her whose boss and there you go acting like she's worth something, damn, I figured we could make a deal, she's got a huge pack of shit she's carrying around and it don't look like sentiments to me."

"Thanks douche."

"Hey, don't you go and talk like that to me, little bitch." He said.

"Same to you." I said.

"If any of you think that she is staying here for good, you're out of your damn minds." Daryl said.

"I said we were just talking, nothing's set in stone, if you want to walk away there's the gate and Daryl, if we as a group decide to let her stay you're expected to leave her alone or treat her with respect."

"Sure thing officer." Daryl said stiffening. "I'm going hunting, be back later." He said.

"Daryl, don't be hasty." An older woman with short gray hair said in a soft voice, she looked harmless.

"No, never." Daryl said and with that he was off, back into the woods where he came from, leaving the group in silence and me wondering what had happened to him for him to become so cold. No one is born cold; something had to have happened to get him that way. I pitied him because bad things happen to good people but worse things happen to the cold ones.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Welcome to chapter 2! Yay, I REALLY love feedback, so, ya know, feel free to pleasure me with your reviews, not to be a creeper :). Anyways, I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:

**FanFicGirl10**

**Sissymac**

**SilverAdvenger12**

**Fictionfanatic008**

Love, Emily, xoxo

Winter was just around the corner, it was apparent, as the nights grew longer and the days shorter. The Georgia sun was losing some of its blazing strength. Pretty soon snow would fall occasionally making it difficult for survival and food scarce. Animals would be going into hibernation any day now and hunters wouldn't be having too much luck. I thought about this as I sat around the small fire I had made as the temperature dropped. I wasn't sure whether or not I was staying with this group so I was keeping my distance. I wasn't planning on invading anyone's privacy just yet or making myself at home. As a human, I know it's easy to make assumptions and I wasn't going to make any member of this group assume I was staying. Daryl hadn't returned from hunting but I would've returned before the sun plummeted and the sky made room for the moon which was almost full. I sighed and took out a can of beans and held it over the fire waiting for it to be warm. The scent of baked beans filled my nose as I greedily breathed in the scent. I grabbed a silver spoon from my bag and began eating my beans in peace, admiring the beauty of the night sky.

I must have drifted off to sleep because the next thing I knew I was waking up to the sound of footsteps against the pavement. My fire had burned out and I was shivering. "Who-who's there?" I asked rubbing my eyes.

"You're still here?" A voice said and I immediately recognized it as Daryl's.

"Just sleeping on it." I said sitting up.

"Why aren't you inside?" He asked.

"Just keeping my distance, that's all." I said. "Where you hunting all this time?" I asked.

"No." He said.

"Then what were you doing?" I asked.

"I was twiddling my fucking thumbs, what the hell do you think I was doing? Of course I was hunting, dipshit."

"I was just asking no need to get all defensive, it could make one think you're lying."

"I ain't lying." He said and walked off angry at me. I sighed and opened my bag and pulled out my tent and put it together within a minute. I had done this so many times, I trained myself to put it together in a short time and take it apart in even less time. I got inside with a blanket and a flat pillow and laid down and closed my eyes. I listened to the soft sounds of nature until it started raining. I was thankful all of my bags were in here, I hated soggy materials. My eyes closed for a final time that night and I was off into dream land.

_Death can be violent, gruesome and terrifying but death can also be beautiful. I sat beside my grandfather as I watched him slowly deteriorate before my eyes. I knew he was dying, my whole family was aware of this. He grew weaker by the day and his struggles heightened. He would only die when he let go, when he came to terms with his life. He was completely aware of his oncoming death and he was making his closure and after-death arrangements. Pain would come and go in large proportions and as pain flashed across his face his golden eyes slid to me, silently saying his goodbyes. I nodded, allowing him to let go for it would be selfish if I held him here any longer, he was ready to move on. The pain disappeared from his face and a small smile crossed his face as his breathing slowed down. As his eyes fluttered to a final close, tears began falling down my cheeks. His chest stopped moving and he was gone. His death was nothing close to painful and he didn't deserve pain. He wasn't a man of tender words or actions but he was something so much more. He offered help and guidance from a sarcastic and sometimes cunning personality, but he was my grandfather and I loved him._

The sun was just coming through my tent when I woke up, my heart beating fast and beads of sweat forming on my forehead. Reliving my grandfather's death was something that I went through often. He was lucky he didn't have to live through this hell and I knew he was watching over me. I sat up and ran a hand through my hair, my stomach growled with the never ceasing hunger within me. It was after dawn, the birds were chirping while doing their daily work and the wind was blowing, slightly ruffling the nearby trees. I unzipped my tent and poked my head out and glanced around at the empty grounds around me. The group had to have been inside, doing whatever their daily routine was. I didn't expect them to be waiting on me before they went on with their day. I pulled out a candy bar that had gone a little soft but it wasn't too melted. I indulged in the chocolate, it had always been my favorite, I slowly made my way through the chocolate bar before the pregnant woman, Preggers I had been mentally calling her, hobbled her ass outside. "Hey, how are you?" She asked.

"I'm fine, thanks, how are you?" I asked in return.

"I'm alive." She said smiling but her eyes averted towards the ground. "I'm Lori by the way, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier."

"It's no problem, really, I don't know what I'm doing just yet anyways." I said shrugging.

"It'd be nice to have another woman around." She said.

"Well, I don't know, I haven't had the best luck with groups before."

"I don't think we're a typical group." She said.

"There isn't a typical group, believe me."

"I don't think there are many survivors that are pregnant." She said.

"I understand, I'm sorry to hear that or congratulations or whatever." I said shaking my head.

"Both, thank you, I like you Aliyah, I think you should stay." She said her eyes on mine.

"I'm thinking." I said and she looked up and I followed her gaze, others were coming out from the prison, Daryl wasn't among them.

"Aliyah, we need to talk." Rick said in a firm voice, probably to inflict fear or at least demonstrate his power. I stood up and looked him in the eye.

"What's up?" I asked, mentally preparing myself for him to send me out on my own.

"Have you thought about your situation at all and for the wellbeing of yourself?" He asked.

"Sure have, why what's up?" I asked.

"We all talked last night about your situation and generally, we all want you here."

"Yeah, generally, who doesn't want me here other than Daryl?" I asked.

"Let's not talk about that now Aliyah, let's get on good terms." He said. "This is my wife Lori and our son Carl. This here is Glenn." He said referring to a young Asian man. "His girlfriend Maggie and her sister Beth, along with her father Herschel." Rick said and I nodded at each of them, studying their faces. "This is Carol, Andrea, T-Dog and of course my partner in crime, Shane." He said.

"It's nice to be… acquainted." I said smiling.  
"And the only one not here is Daryl, I'm sure you're more than acquainted with him." Rick said.

"Yeah, I am, unfortunately, where is the asshole?" I asked.

"Inside, anyways, we need supplies and some of us are going out for supplies, we want you to be one of them." He said.

"Uh, yeah sure, I guess I'll go."

"Good, do you have any questions?"

"Why me?" I asked.

"Well, two reasons, we want you to decided today so we figured you could get a good idea of what being in this group is like by going with us and also we need to see you in action."

"So basically, you're forcing me to go." I said crossing my arms.

"No, we wouldn't force you to do anything you don't want to but we were just thinking you would agree because…" Rick said trailing off. I sighed.

"All right fine, when are we leaving?" I asked.

"As soon as possible, it'll be me, you, Shane, Glenn, and Daryl." Rick said.

"Great." I said smugly.

"You better bring your stuff if you think you're going to no longer be with us, we don't want you coming all the way back if you're just going to leave us." Shane said to me, being the first words he had spoken to me I wouldn't be surprised if he was the reason an ultimatum was being handed to me. I bit my cheek to hold myself back from saying something I would later regret.

"Do you want me here Shane?" I asked through gritted teeth. I already disliked him because of his stance, he seemed like an asshole.

"Honestly, no." He said confirming my beliefs.

"All right then, looks like I'm staying." I said smiling as my eyes connected with Rick's comforting baby blues.

"That's great; hopefully this decision is for the right reasons." Rick said.

"Don't you worry about that." I said smirking.

"All right, let's group up." Rick announced just as Daryl walked out of the building. "Daryl, Glenn and I, Aliyah, would you mind going with Shane?" He asked.

"I'd rather not but fine." I said sighing.

"Would you rather go with Daryl?" He asked.

"Shane sounds better." I admitted. Daryl rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure about that one." He said looking up at the sky.

"I know a place where we could get some supplies." I said my green eyes steadying on Rick.

"Great, take Shane there. I know a place where we can get supplies and ammo too." He said.

"I have plenty of assorted ammo, since I'm a part of this group, I'd be happy to contribute."

"Ok, thanks, I'm sure we'll need it later." Rick said.

"All right, let's get this over with Shane." I said looking into his crazy eyes. There was something off about him, he didn't seem like an ordinary cop, there had to be something more to him. "Bye guys, see you later." I said and speed walked toward the gate, unfortunately Shane was keeping up with me.

"Where is this place?" He asked.

"A few miles down the road, it's a pharmacy and liquor store but don't get any ideas about liquor." I said.

"Who do you think you are telling me what to do?" He asked.

"I'm telling you to not waste space with alcohol, when you can bring back a lot of food. You damn people live in a prison how do you not have food?" I asked.

"We're running out of sustaining foods." He explained.

"You mean beans?" I asked.

"Yes, beans." He said sighing. I laughed and stopped talking, I didn't like him and I didn't feel the urge to enlighten him in mindless small talk.

The liquor store and pharmacy was just down the road and Shane was walking too close to me for comfort. "See that brick building?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said.

"That's it." I said and began jogging down the road, glad there weren't any walkers around. I swung open the door and entered the dark shop. I slipped off the pack that was on my back and quickly slipped a few bottles of whisky into my bag, I'd share it with the group but not with Shane. I walked over to the isles and began looking for cans of beans, packages of nuts, chocolate bars or anything with oils in it. I bent down and began rummaging through the medicine on the bottom shelf, it was nothing pharmaceutical but it could help. I felt arms wrap around my waist and I shot up and whipped around and was faced with Shane.

"Hey, baby." He said smirking at me. He grabbed my hand and planted kisses up and down my arm.

"Get your hands off of me, Shane if you know what's good for you." I said.

"C'mon, I won't hurt you, I'd never hurt a pretty little thing like you." He said and kissed my cheek. I began shaking with anger and fear as my back was pushed against the metal isle. I closed my eyes and bit back tears. I could fight him off. I thought just as my arms were nailed to my sides as Shane felt up my ass.

"What a man you are, have to force a girl on you just so you can get some, that's what real men do." I said rolling my eyes.

"Why don't you just be quiet, you'll enjoy it sweetheart."

"Get the fuck off of me." I said gritting my teeth. As his lips came into contact with mine I wanted to vomit. His lips were grimy and disgusting and the last place I wanted them were on mine. His tongue brushed my bottom lip and he nibbled on my bottom lip but I wasn't going to let his tongue enter my mouth. My eyes were closed tight as I tried desperately to think of a way out of his grasp, I hated to admit it but he was stronger than me, he was a trained cop and I was just a girl who was malnourished and starving. I felt his pants grow tighter against me as he moved his lips to my neck and his hand touched my boob. I moved my foot onto his and stepped down with all of my force.

"I'm going to have my way with you, Blondie." He said.

"Fuck you." I said and stopped struggling. "You're going to rot in hell you ugly douchebag."

"Hell, we all are, might as well have fun, right?" He asked, loosening his grip.

"Right." I said moving my face closer to his and as his eyelids fluttered shut I ripped my arms out from his grasp and kneed him right where it hurt. I grabbed a roll of duct tape and tied his hands together. "Now, this is my definition of a good time Shane, now let me finish getting the shit and then we'll head back to camp. I'm sure Rick is going to be thrilled to hear about your attempt at fucking me. Look at you, you're still hard." I said cocking my head.

"You're just turning me on more girl, we can be friends, it doesn't have to end like this." He said.

"I'd really rather not catch all of your STD's Shane."

"Come on, Aliyah-"

"Don't you dare say my name." I said and walked away grabbing more supplies. "I'll grab some baby formula, might as well get as much as we can." I murmured to myself.

Author's Note: Yes, I know Shane is alive and Andrea is with the group. Shane is just such a douche that he deserves a much more slow and painful death and Andrea, eh, she just sleeps with the anything. Don't worry about the whole Woodbury thing, I gots me some plans ;)

Emily xoxo


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note:

Hello everyone, welcome to chapter three of Crossbow! Updates may be slowing down a bit because I don't have anything else written as of now, but I promise it'll be worth the wait. Anyways, I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:

**FanFicGirl10**

**xShyxPandax18: Don't worry Woodbury is a definite plan! :)**

I felt disgustingly dirty, like I was covered in filth. The walker blood that was now covering my face had nothing to do with it. As Shane and I stepped onto prison grounds I felt my heart sink as I saw everyone outside gathered by a fire. They would surely want to know why Shane was handcuffed with duct tape and why I was covered in walker blood. Shane was a poor excuse of a man who would abuse any woman he could get his hands on. I tripped over a twig causing everyone's eyes to look toward me, even Daryl. Rick stood up and jogged over to the gate, opening it. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Never again, Rick, I swear don't make me do that with him again." I said shivers running through me.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Don't talk to me right now." I said walking over to my tent and grabbing two of the bottles of whiskey I had gotten. "Share that one." I said handing it to Herschel. I opened it and plopped down and began drinking the whiskey.

"Did that asshole touch you?" Daryl asked. My green eyes snapped to his blue eyes.

"What the fuck do you care?" I yelled.

"I'll kill him." He said getting up. "You just got to tell me what he did." He said squatting next to me. "Any man who touches a woman isn't a man." He said. I took a deep shaky breath in.

"He tried to force himself on me, his fucking hands were all over me and so were his lips. I told him he was going to rot in hell and he said he wanted to have fun while he was at it and that was when I pretended to move in on him, his eyes closed and I tackled him to the ground and that's when I cuffed him with the tape." I explained quickly.

"Is this true?" Rick asked Shane who was still cuffed.

"She was all over me man." He said nervously.

"You call gathering supplies all over you, fuck you man." I said.

"I-I …I beat Ed when he hit Carol, I w-would never touch a woman." He said his voice shaking; he knew he'd been caught.

"You don't bring Carol into this." Daryl said stepping towards Shane.

"Daryl, there's no need for violence." Rick said.

"He touched a woman; he needs to pay for it." Daryl said.

"I won't go near her again, promise." Shane said.

"Fuck off." I said. "You're going to have your way with me right?" I asked.

"Only if you want it honey." He said his voice so overly sweet it made me want to vomit. I glanced down to see his pants were tightening.

"You're a sick fuck, I'm never going to want you." I said.

"Oh, fuck, look at him, getting all bothered by her." Daryl said and sauntered over to him. "Listen to me; I may not be all for this bitch being here but you will not go around forcing yourself on her or anyone else round here." Daryl punched him in his face over and over until he bled.

"All right, Daryl, that's enough." Rick said.

"I won't hesitate to kill you next time." Daryl said punching him one last time. Daryl sauntered off, going back into the prison slamming the door shut.

"Ah, shit." Shane said touching his face and looking at the blood that was on his hands. Aliyah stared into space, reliving the moments of Shane all over her, she was overcome with emotions and most weren't good. The most prominent one was disgust but other than that she was damn thankful for Daryl. Without Daryl knocking some sense into Shane he wouldn't hesitate to try again. It wouldn't have been the first time I had been raped, when I was seventeen I went out late at night and before I knew it, three men were on top of me, taking turns getting their jollies. I stood up and everyone looked at me as I turned to head inside.

My footsteps echoed throughout the prison as I made my way through the empty cell block. "Daryl? You here?" I called out.

"Yeah, I'm here." He said. I heard the sound of him sharpening something. I walked up the stairs to the perch he was on.

"Hey, I wanted to thank you for that." I said and his blue eyes shifted to mine.

"You don't need to thank me, I been waiting for the day that asshole stepped out of line, he ever bothers you again, you tell me, he'll have something more severe to worry about than a few punches." He grunted sharpening his arrow.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked. He grunted before responding.

"Rick won't send you off anyways." He said.

"I can leave, Daryl, if I bother you that much. It might be good to get away from Shane anyways."

"Na, I couldn't ask you to do that, anyways the rest of the group likes you." He said standing up and grabbing another arrow.

"Ok, thanks again." I said.

"Yeah, whatever." He said, ending the conversation. I didn't move to leave though, Daryl had protected me and I didn't want to go out to see that monster again. I sat down on a step pretty close to him.

"What the hell you doing now?" He asked.

"Nothing." I said.

"I'm done talking." He said.

"So am I." I said shrugging.

"Then go somewhere." He said.

"I don't want to." I said.

"Fine, suit yourself." He said and continued on with his work. I was strangely comforted by his presence, just listening to him sharpen his arrows and play around with his bow was relaxing. I had been alone for so long it felt nice being accompanied by someone who was sort of like me, alone. From the beginning I noticed that Daryl was an outsider. I sat on the steps my feet quietly tapping. "Could you stop that tapping?" He asked.

"Sorry." I said and looked down.

I missed a lot about before the world ended but I guess I could say I missed the spontaneity of life. Before all of this, surprises were mostly pleasant, what's the best thing that could happen today? We got food, shelter and clothes on our backs, we could be thankful for that. We have each other, at least, but most of our loved ones are dead. I miss going to the movies and listening to music, I missed wearing makeup and opening Christmas presents, I miss Saturdays and Sundays. I missed the value of life and time. Honestly, I don't know what not to miss.

Suddenly, Lori, Herschel, Beth and Carl came rushing into the prison. "Daryl, Rick needs you out there, walkers are everywhere." Beth said.

"Shit." He said and slung his arrow carrier on his shoulder and loaded his crossbow.

"I'm coming." I said, stuffing extra ammo into my pockets.

"That's my ammo girl." Daryl said.

"I'll be sure to give it back to you, with some extra." There was no way I was going to be able to get to my tent in time. "I don't see you carrying a gun anyways." I said.

"I have on, in case I really need it." He said running down the stairs and outside with me right on his heels. I wasn't a girl out of an action movie or anything but at least I know how to defend my people. My people…the phrase rang through my head a few times and bounced off my skull. That was the first time I had ever unconsciously recognized any of my groups as my own group. Once Daryl and I got to the group his blue eyes were on me. "Stay tight." He said. I couldn't help a childish giggle from escaping my lips. Clearly, my mind was in the gutter. Daryl scoffed at me. "You're worse than Merle, I swear."

"Merle?" I asked, the name feeling foreign on my lips."

"Ain't none of your business." He muttered, pulling back his bow and shooting a walker right through the eyes. Maggie, damn, I was impressed by her for sure. She was strong and intense while I was laughing like an immature twelve year old when Daryl told me to stay 'tight.' I shot walker after walker, the metal clink of my gun going off was helping me stay focused. I loved the sound of a gun with a silencer. Daryl's arrow ricocheted off of a walker with head gear. There I went again, laughing. I shook my head and walked up to the walker from behind and held his head gear up, I didn't have my knife with me. Within seconds an arrow was through its skull. After that Maggie announced to the group how to kill them with a knife, she was one smart girl. "Behind you." Daryl said without urgency.

"What?" I asked fear and confusion shooting through me when Daryl raised his crossbow at me. The arrow went above my head and I felt relieved when the sound of a walker hitting the ground came from behind me. I turned around, my heart beating rapidly, and continued shooting walkers.

"All right, the gates closed." Rick said as Daryl and I shot down the remaining walkers.

"Good." I said.

"Carl, go check on your mother." Rick ordered and Carl walked off.

"Daryl, I-." I was cut off by the sound of an alarm sounding. "Fuck."

"Someone's playing games." Rick said. "What is that alarm?" He said look behind me. I turned around and noticed a man in a prison jumpsuit.

"It must be the emergency generators!" he said, clearly shaken.

"Maggie, go inside, lock the cell." Glenn said.

"Let me get ammo and my knife before you open that door." I said running to my tent quickly, I ran back even faster and tossed a box are Daryl. "There." I said.

"Whatever." He said pushing the box in his bag of arrows.

Within ten minutes we were all split up and Daryl's goal of staying tight had crashed and was burning. I was sticking to Daryl like glue, he was obviously willing to protect me and once this was over, I'd find out. Underground the prison was right out of a horror movie, I was sure, it was dark, dingy, and it smelled. I heard screams coming from the back of us and I wondered what was wrong. Daryl's blue eyes were concentrated on each walker that crossed his path. A walker was dangerously closed to me as I stepped back I tripped over Daryl's foot, causing me to trip hard. I aimed my gun and almost cried when it was out of ammo. "Daryl please!" I yelled as I reloaded my gun. I didn't have time to blink before there was an arrow through its skull. I began shooting at every walker that was coming towards us, luckily the amount of walkers were winding down, enough that I felt that I could thank Daryl for saving my life, twice. "Thank you, Daryl, I don't know how to begin to thank you." I said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He said.

"Don't blow me off Daryl how can I thank you?" I asked.

"I don't know." He said.

"I'll do anything?" I said, pleading. I had never felt more in debt before in my life.

"Anything?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course." I said.

"Then shut up." He said as he found the emergency generators and began switching them off. I shut off the remaining two and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally, peace." I said.

"It'd be peace if you shut up." He said.

"Are you dating Carol?" I asked out of nowhere.

"Na, I ain't dating anyone." He said. "Do I look like boyfriend material and what does it matter?"

"It doesn't." I answered too quickly.

We got outside to see Rick looking angry. "We can't find Lori or Carl." He said.

"What about the others?" Daryl asked. "Carol…T-Dog?"

"They didn't make it." Rick said.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"We can't find Lori or Carl!" Rick exclaimed.

"How could you be so selfish?" I demanded. "Carol and T-Dog were not worthless. Yeah, I know it's your wife and child out there too but you can't just put them off as dead." I said.

"We aren't risking more by going back down there." Shane said.

"To hell with all of y'all, I'll go." I said and began walking off just as I heard a baby cry. Everyone's eyes were on Maggie, Carl and the new baby as they emerged from underground.

"Where's Lori?" Rick asked. Carl and Maggie gave him a knowing look. "No." Rick said breaking down. "Noo…" He said through tears while stepping closer to Carl. He began pacing back and forth until he collapsed on the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note:

Welcome to Chapter 4 of Crossbow. I'm so happy I got some inspiration from this big ol' head of mine, if you guys have any suggestions or something you really want to see, feel free to tell me. I'll consider it and you might just see your idea in the story! Anyways, I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:

**xShyxPandax18: D'aw, thanks :) Woodbury is really important to me because I love Merle, he's such a douche but I loved him from his first line and I'm trying to develop Aliyah and Daryl's relationship slowly with cute little moments in between. I really love your reviews!**

**Sissymac: Thank you so much!**

**FanFicGirl10: I know, poor Carl. Even though he annoys me, I don't know why but he's a little irritating but he's a little tough one ;) And I also really love Carol and Daryl together, they need to hook up in the show. I really appreciate what you say in every review, keep it up!**

Emily, xoxo

IMPORTANT: This **IS** a DarylxOC story :)

Guilt, sadness and sympathy twisted around my stomach, Rick was turning into a mental patient, he was losing it by the minute. Rick is a strong guy and I know he would pull back together eventually but seeing him like this was heart wrenching. I haven't known Rick for long but I could see that he had genuinely loved Lori. I felt guilty for calling him selfish, if it were someone I loved that much my mind would be set on finding them. I knew enough not to blame myself, those two minutes wouldn't have saved her. I glanced at Rick and ran a hand through my hand just as a cold wind blew around swirling the tension in the air. "I'm so sorry." I said and walked off and back into the tunnels. I heard footsteps behind me and I grasped my knife and turned around and let out a deep breath when my eyes connected with Daryl's soft blue eyes. "You're going after them…when no one else was going to." He said. I nodded gently pinching my arm. "I'm glad you're staying." He said and my heart swelled with happiness.

"Thank you…" I said at a complete loss for words. "I-."

"Shut up." He said playfully, a smile tugging at his lips. I smiled back but turned back to my serious mode.

"We have to find them." I said. He smiled lightly, shaking his head as he was lost in his thoughts. I ventured on, feeling safe knowing Daryl was right behind me. It was strange how my view on Daryl had changed within the last day. He had gained a lot of respect for saving my life a few times and I definitely started liking him as a person. My mom always taught me that no matter how much I disliked a person I should always respect them. Sometimes I couldn't go by those rules, like Shane for example, I don't like him and I sure as hell don't respect him. I rounded a corner and gasped as a walker came towards me that looked too much like T-Dog. "Oh, no." I said. "I'm sorry T-Dog, so sorry." I said closing my eyes before stabbing him in the brain. He collapsed to the floor, never to come back again. My heart was breaking for him, he was such a goodhearted man, he really did care about the group, he hadn't said much but in the time that I knew him I could tell in his eyes that he had cared a lot.

"He was all right, even though he left my brother on that damned roof." Daryl said his eyes intent of T-Dog's corpse.

"What?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing." He said.

"Fine." I said shaking my head. We continued through the underbelly of the prison, finding no answers. Daryl was an excellent tracker, that's why he went out hunting. Daryl quickly grabbed a knife and held it to him.

"Shit." He said glancing at the now dead walker that lay in front of a door. He slid down the wall and stabbed the knife into the floor. I kicked the walker and then shoved it from the door and creaked it open.

"It's her, she's alive." I said looking to Daryl who sprung up and lightly pushed me out of the way and picked up Carol. My heart melted at the scene, Daryl carrying Carol, bridal style, through the tunnels to safety. "I knew they weren't dead." I said more to myself than Daryl.

"I had a feeling too." He said.

Daryl placed Carol on a bed in a cell in the cell block. She was so happy to see Daryl, it was really sweet. I don't know how they felt about each other but it was clear they had love for each other. I bit my tongue to hold back an 'aw.' "I'm going to the river to wash up; I'll be back before dark. I have some baby formula in my tent if you need it." I said.

"You shouldn't go out alone." Shane said smiling at me sadistically.

"Get the fuck over it, Shane." I nearly yelled.

"He's right." Andrea said.

"I'll be fine alone, thank you for the concern." I said my words cold. I already disliked Andrea for some reason but now I felt like she was validating it.

"I'll go." Maggie said her green eyes on mine.

"Sure, why not." I said smiling.

"I need to wash myself anyways."

Maggie and I arrived at the river and I lifted my shirt over my head and unclasped my bra. I kicked off my shoes and pulled down my jeans and panties. I sauntered into the river and gasped at the temperature of the water. I noticed Maggie was now undressing and getting into the water herself. I dunked my head under the water and ran my hands through my hair while I held my breath. I popped up for air and swam a little further out, into the middle of the river. I could now see past the thin brush in the woods that surrounded us. I noticed a pair of eyes that connected with mine. I turned around and swam around for a few minutes, like I didn't notice the eyes. I swam over to Maggie. "Don't freak out but someone is watching us." I said in a hushed tone.

"What?" She asked her eyes widened from surprise.

"Yeah, let's head back but take the roundabout way, through a side road, no one can follow us back without us knowing." I said and she nodded and we made our way out of the water. "Damn, it's cold." I said loudly as I pulled on my jeans.

"I know!" Maggie exclaimed.

"Let's run, it'll warm us up and keep us in shape." I suggested winking with my left eye, which was turned away from the person watching us.

I was about dead when we reached the prison, I was never one for running, it was bad for your knees. "Fuck." I said as I closed the gate. It had turned dark an hour ago; we had gotten slightly lost taking the side roads.

"Where were you girls?" Glenn yelled running up to Maggie and embracing her. I hooked my thumbs through my jean loops and stood there awkwardly.

"Someone was watching us bathe." I said looking down.

"What? Who?" Glenn asked turning red, from either embarrassment or anger.

"I don't know, they were hiding in the brush." I said.

"Oh, shit." He said.

"I know it was weird because we weren't exactly dressed." I said, my eyes shifted away from him.

"What a fucking pervert." He said grabbing Maggie's hand and sitting down at the fire.

"What happened?" Daryl asked.

"Some perv was watching the girls."

"Did he follow you here?" Daryl asked.

"No, there was no way, we took side roads here, there's nowhere to hide on those streets." I said.

"Good, next time you wanna go take your bubble bath, a man is going with you two, risking your lives to be clean." He said shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know we would've been in danger." I said.

"I should've known no where's safe." Daryl said.

"How's your girl doing?" I asked.

"Who's my girl?" Daryl asked.

"Carol, of course." I said.

"She's not my girl, get over it and she's sleeping."

"I'm just fucking with you Daryl, I believe you, but you two have love for each other." I said.

"I don't love no one." He said.

"Yeah ok." I said.

"I don't know when you started thinking talking to me was ok. Just leave me alone." He said.

"You brought me here, saved my life, said you were glad I'm staying. You have left so many questions unanswered, Daryl, you can't expect me to not be curious." I said.

"Curiosity killed that cat; don't want that to be you, right?" He asked.

"So, you don't want to be…friends or anything?" I asked.

"I don't have friends." He shrugged. I sighed.

"Fine, fuck you." I said.

"Fuck you too." He said, his words stinging me. I looked at the people around the fire, they tried to not look at us or listen to our conversation.

"I'll be in my tent." I said.

"You haven't eaten and you should really go inside, it's cold." Maggie said.

"I'll be fine." I said.

"Aliyah, don't play games, get in the damn prison and stop your shit." Daryl said, not even looking up at me.

"Whatever." I said and packed my tent up and gathered my things, carrying my bottle of vodka in my hand.

"That's not a meal." Maggie said.

"Sure drinks like one." I said. Alcohol always filled me up; alcohol was always there for me when I needed it, when I needed to forget my problems. I opened a cell and looked at the blankets and sheets that were already used by some former prisoner. I laid my blankets down on the floor of the cell and plopped down on it and opened the bottle of vodka. I took a big swig; I felt it go straight to my head, since I hadn't eaten since my candy bar for breakfast. I kept drinking and drinking until I couldn't see clearly. The bottle was nearly empty, I knew I had to stop or else I would get alcohol poisoning. I stood up, not tired at all. I stumbled out of my cell and walked right into a wall, falling onto my ass. "Owie." I murmured and laid there for a while.

My eyes opened, it was still dark in the prison, and everyone was probably sleeping. I stood up again and walked up the stair to the perch where I could make out Daryl's sleeping form. "Shh, everyone's sleeping." I said and stepped over him and tripped over his leg.

"What the fuck?" He said shooting up a knife pressed to my back.

"Daryl…it's just mee…" I slurred out.

"Shit, how much did you drink?" He asked.

"Enough." I said smiling at him.

"You need to go to sleep." He said.

"No, can I stay here?" I asked.

"Hell no." He said.

"Why not, Daryl, I don't bite." I said giggling.

"I don't deal with drunk bitches."

"I'm not drunk, Daryl. You like me don't you?" I slurred.

"No, now go to your cell."

"I don't want to, please; don't make me go back there." I said tears forming in my eyes.

"Why the fuck are you crying now?" He asked.

"I…I want you." I said and then everything went black.  
I woke up in my cell the next morning with a pounding in my head as the sunlight poured through the windows. I sat up too quickly and I groaned and I looked at the nearly empty vodka bottle beside me. That explains why I didn't remember anything from last night. Hopefully, I hadn't done anything too stupid last night. I got up and searched through my bag looking for some food. I pulled out a package of nuts. I shoved them into my mouth, feeling kind of satisfied. I walked out of my cell and saw everyone out of their cells. Daryl glanced at me and grunted as I smiled at him. I walked towards him and he stepped away. "Hey, good morning." I said.

"Whatever." He said.

"What's wrong, did I do something?" I asked.

"Figures you don't remember." He said.

"Aw, shit, what the fuck did I do now?" I asked.

"I…I want you." He mocked in a girlish voice.

"I didn't!" I said groaning to myself. He smirked at me and nodded.

"Sure did."

"No, look, I didn't mean it. I don't want you." I said my cheeks were ablaze with embarrassment. "Shit, Daryl, I'm sorry." I said.

"Yeah whatever, at least I know how you really feel." He said.

"No, I swear I don't, I was drunk." I said.

"I've been round drunks all my life, I know the truth comes out when you're slurring around like a little bitch." He said.

"Not me, Daryl, it's not like that." I said.

"Whatever, we got shit to do, don't worry bout your confession, your secret's safe with me." He said.

"What shit?" I asked.

"Glenn and Maggie are going out to get formula for the baby. The rest are going to try and find Rick and make sure he hasn't gone too mental." Daryl said.

"I'll go with Glenn and Maggie." I volunteered. I needed to get away for a little while.

"Ok, go talk with them." He said.

I walked up to Glenn and Maggie who were talking with each other. "Hey, guys, think I can go with you two today?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah sure." Glenn said. "We were just about to leave." He said.

"Ok, great. I'll go get my knife and gun, just in case." I said and ran back into the prison and then jogged back to them. I don't know why I always leave my defense behind, it just wastes time.

"All right, you ready?" Glenn asked.

"I'm as ready as I'll every be." I said and got into the red truck's backseat.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! I'm sorry if I caused anyone any confusion about the Daryl and Carol thing, this is a DarylxOC story. I think of Caryl as a protective mother/son relationship. I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:

**mrskaz453**

**Sissymac**

**FanFicGirl10**

I really appreciate all the support and how nice you all are, keep it up!

Emily xoxo

"_Look, honey, I don't know how to say this but basically, the world has been overrun with…people eating monsters and unfortunately your family_ _didn't make it." The elderly woman said as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. _

"_W-what?" I asked my eyes stinging with hot tears._

"_I know, I'm sorry." She said walking into the kitchen and handed me a gun and steak knife. "The gun doesn't have much ammo but the knife will do." She said he crystal eyes. "I know you'll be fine, keep moving aim for the brain." She said ushering me out the door._

"_What? I don't understand…" I said at a loss for words, I had lost my family and know I'm being thrown into the wilderness. _

"_It's not safe here, my husband and I aren't going to fight, we are old. We're content with life, honey, you can't give up." She said. The door closed in my face and I stood there for a while in shock. Just hours ago, I went to sleep over my mom's, my younger sister in the room next to me, why did I make it out alive?_

_Eventually, I turned around my hands shaking as screams of pain came from the house, the elderly couple had met their demise. The steak knife was shaking in my left hand and the gun was hung off my __right thumb. When my boot met the rocky path my old life was left behind and I started my new life, full of things taken right out of a horror movie. _

_Five Years earlier…_

_My seventeen year old self glanced in the mirror, makeup on my face and my cellphone pressed to my ear. "Yeah, I'll meet you at the mall. Alright? Ok, see you then." I said and hung up and jogged down the stairs and opened the front door. "Bye guys!" I yelled._

"_Bye Hun, be safe!" My mom yelled from the kitchen. _

"_Kay." I said and closed the door._

_I stepped off the bus, my breath visible in the cold winter night. My hands were in my jacket pockets. I heard a scream come from an ally and I glanced down it and saw a trio of men fighting a woman. "Hey, douchebags stop that!" I yelled at them. All three snapped around to me, their faces cast in shadows._

"_Hey pretty lady." He said as the elderly woman got up. _

"_How dare you fucking beat an elderly woman!" I yelled._

"_Shh, honey, we have you now, we don't need the old hag to pleasure us." One said, towering over me. I turned around and began running, glancing back every now and then. My face met the ground as one of the men tackled me and dragged me into an ally. He fumbled with his belt buckle while the other pulled down my leggings. _

"_Please, don't do this." I pleaded my voice barely audible. Panic rose within me as I felt my black lace underwear slide down my legs. A calloused hand slapped my bare ass and squeezed it. I felt a hard shoe come in contact to the back of my knee. A whimper escaped my lips as I felt blood run down my bare legs. I felt one of the men slide into me, taking away my innocence. I bit my lip and cried silent tears until they were done with me._

The car came to a halting stop as my thoughts were ripped away from me. "Are you ok?" Glenn asked.

"I'm fine." I said.

"You're crying." Maggie said sympathy in her eyes. I touched my cheeks and felt the dampness of them.

"I was just thinking, well remembering." I said.

"I'm here for you." Maggie said pulling me into a hug as I stepped out of the car.

"No, I'm fine." I said.

"All right, let's enjoy the beautiful day, it sure is beautiful." Maggie said.

"And quiet for once." Glenn said.

"Yeah, just like how it used to be." I said. Glenn slid open the storage unit.

"I just found the baby formula jackpot."

"That's great; it's nice to be away from the prison." Maggie said.

"Yeah." I nodded in agreement.

"Well, look who it is." I heard an unfamiliar voice said. I whipped around.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded walking over to him.

"I could ask you the same thing. I was talking to my good friend, Glenn." He said.

"Merle?" Glenn asked.

"Well, shit, I never thought I'd see you again." Merle said lowering his gun.

"Wait, Merle?" I asked.

"That's my name, sweetheart, don't wear it out." He said. I remembered Daryl saying something about a Merle. "You seen my baby brother?" Merle asked as he came into full view. I looked down at his arm, which instead of a hand he had a metal contraption which had a blade sticking out of it. I quickly ushered Glenn and Maggie into the car.

"No, we ain't seen no baby brother." I said and slammed the driver's side door closed before he could say anything and sped off. My eyes were glued to the rearview mirror as I pulled up to the prison. "Who was that?" I asked.

"That was Merle, Daryl's older brother, he ain't gonna be too happy when he hears we saw him and didn't bring him back." Glenn explained.

"We don't mention it." I said my green eyes on Glenn's. "At least not right now." I said and he nodded.

"I agree, we got the formula with no problems." He said.

"Yep, are you ok, Maggie?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm glad you two thought of something." She said smiling.

"How's Rick?" I asked as snow began flurrying down from the sky.

"He's gonna be fine." Shane said his crazy eyes roaming my body making me squirm and search for Daryl unconsciously. His calming blue eyes locked with mine. He nodded at me and I took a deep breath.

"That's great." I said and walking past him and towards the prison, everyone was going to be stuck inside for a day or two. The snow wouldn't stay around long, just long enough to chill the air for a few days and nudge the critters into hibernation.

I was in my cell, my knees pulled to my chest as I forced myself to relive my rape. Tears slid down my face as I remembered the feeling of the brutal beating the men had given me. "Hey, you all right, Aliyah?" Daryl's voice came into my cell. I turned my head towards him and his hands were locked around the bars in my cell.

"I'm fine." I said nodding, reassuring myself.

"Mind if I come in?" He asked sliding open my cell door.

"It's fine." I said sniffling. "What's up?" I asked.

"Did something happen today?" He asked sitting down next to me, his leg close enough to mine that I could feel his warmth shooting into my leg.

"No, I just can't keep the memories back." I said.

"Memories of what? Shane?" He asked.

"Not Shane, he wasn't the first to force me to do things." I said. It hurt saying the words but it was a good kind of pain, the kind of pain that forced you to accept something.

"Who? I'll fucking find that bastard and kill him." He said.

"There's no finding them now, Daryl; it was a few years ago when I was raped…by three men." I said choking over my words.

"Those motherfuckers…" He said. "Like I said before, those aren't men; they are just the dirt beneath our feet." He said.

"I know that but I think what Shane did forced me to remember, I've been trying to stop the memories…" I said, violent shakes went through me as I held back a sob.

"They're probably dead now; men like them don't make it too far." He said.

"That doesn't make it any better, they were beating an old woman when I first saw them, I yelled at them to stop and from there it was downhill." My thoughts were spiraling out of control as flashes of the three men and Shane played in my mind just repeating over and over. "I'm more fucked up than I ever thought I was."

"You're fine, I'm going hunting while the animals are gathering there food, you can come, uh…if you want." He said making me smile.

"I'd love to." I said getting up and wiping the final tears from my eyes, I was such a dumb bitch for crying all the time.

Snow was lightly flurrying down from the sky as Daryl and I drove about three miles down the road to the deeper part of the forest. My arms were wrapped around Daryl's waist as he drove his bike down the dirt path. Rocks kept hitting my legs and arms as he sped but it didn't bother me too much. I was entranced by the blur of the trees and the cold snow to pay attention to much else. The bike came to a jerking stop and I toppled off of the bike. "Guess you weren't holding on tight enough." Daryl said shrugging as he got off the bike and walked into the woods while I stood up. Guess I shouldn't have expected to help me up. I entered the woods and smiled as Daryl shook the snow out of his hair. The dirt on his face was smearing from the wetness of the snow.

"So, what should I do?" I asked.

"Be quiet and shoot any animal you see." He said and I nodded.

I watching intently as Daryl's muscular arm pulled back his crossbow and the arrow flew out of it and into a squirrel's stomach. I pouted but pulled the arrow out of the squirrel and handed both the arrow and the squirrel to Daryl like I had been doing for the past two hours. "I think it's time to head back, look at all those squirrels." I said my eyes wide at the collection of squirrels we had accumulated.

"Guess so." He said.

"Thanks for taking me with you, it's fascinating to watch." I said and he nodded curtly and got onto his bike. I got on and slid my arms around him and felt the now familiar warmth of Daryl. This was heading down a very bad path, I shouldn't be enjoying touching him, and I didn't want to extend my feelings for him any further than what we were. We were, I don't even know what we were. I wouldn't exactly say we were friends but we definitely weren't strangers.

We pulled back up to the prison and the snow had completely covered the ground but it had just stopped. "All right, Daryl, I'm going to turn in." I said.

"Make sure you eat real food." He said.

"Will do." I said as my cheeks reddened in embarrassment as I thought about what I had said last night. Even though I couldn't remember it, I know I said it. I sat down in my cell and took out another package of nuts and began eating the long gone stale product. I got up and walked to the cafeteria to get some water. I had already drunk my three bottles of water. I was shocked to see Shane's figure in there eating from a bowl.

"What're you doing?" He asked.

"I'm getting some water." I said calmly, trying to avoid confrontation.

"You Daryl's bitch now?" He asked simply.

"No, I'm never going to be anyone's bitch." I said cocking my head at him.

"Just wondering, Blondie, no need to get all defensive." He said.

"I have my reasons, Shane, you don't know my story." I said.

"Let me think, perfect family, perfect boyfriend, cheerleading captain?" He asked.

"Let me think…um, no, high school is long behind me, I'm twenty-three." I said.

"All right-."  
"No, I'm not done, my mom was divorced and got pregnant by a drug dealer, I was invisible at school and was bullied throughout middle school, so no Shane, I didn't live in a fucking fantasy world." I said.

"All right, like I said, no need to get defensive, look I'm sorry." He said rolling his eyes.

"I don't know what you're problem is, Shane, but you really are in desperate need of a wakeup call." I said.

"I already got one, Lori's dead."

"Ok, here's another one, Lori wasn't your wife she was Rick's."

"Yeah but she still slept with me." He said.

"Whatever, Shane, she may not have been the best mother or most faithful wife but I'm sure she slept with you because of problems with Rick not because she liked you." I said and grabbed my bottle of water and left the cafeteria. When I got back to my cell I slid off my jeans and took off my bra, leaving me in my soft flannel button down and panties. I laid down and pulled my red blanket over me and stared up at the ceiling. My mind wandered and I began thinking about Daryl's older brother, Merle. He was really tough, and I knew that he got left on a roof by T-Dog but that was about it, I had a feeling that this wasn't the last I would see of him. I also think when Daryl finds out that I saw him and didn't tell him, he'd be pissed, probably beyond pissed. The thought scared me, I told myself to stop thinking, to stop driving myself down and emotional downhill path.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note:

Hey, welcome to Chapter 6 of Crossbow! Things are rolling, guys, I've been writing my ass off, all the way to part of Chapter 8! So yay! I'd like to thank all the voters and the following for reviewing:

**FanFicGirl10: Oh yeah, shit is going down! Just not yet ;)**

**hayleyjune13: Thanks, I'm really glad you like it, I update as soon as I can :) **

**Sissymac: Of course, I love your singing voice :)**

**Guest: Thanks, I'm really glad your excited because I know I am!**

Love you all!

Emily xoxo

_ The first time I had to kill a walker was really hard for me. I didn't know what to do even though I had been told to go for the brain. I wasn't sure whether the walker was a monster or a person who had a really bad disease. As the walker approached me I bit my lip as it hissed at me. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" I asked. The walker answered by clicking its teeth. I then noticed the blood everywhere, which really freaked me out. It got closer to me and I closed my eyes and shot the gun for the first time ever, it didn't make nearly as loud a noise as I expected, now I knew it was because of the silencer attached to it. I was heartbroken for a week; I was completely surprised that I could even kill someone, well something._

"Hey, Aliyah, get up." A voice came to me as I was shaken from my dreams. I opened my eyes and rolled over.

"I don't want to get up, five more minutes." I said.

"Aliyah…" The voice said I recognized it as Rick's.

"Rick, is everything ok?" I asked, snapped back to reality.

"Everything's fine but you're going to get you're bath in with Daryl today. Glenn is taking Maggie out to a pond he found to fish, he's quite the fisherman."

"Ok, you know I love being clean." I said smiling at him like a child on Christmas.

"Shane told me about you trying to put him in place last night." He said sitting down. I pushed the blankets off of me and nodded.

"Sure as hell did. He needs a serious wake up call, Rick."

"He's my best friend, my wife just died. I don't want him to make me give you an ultimatum." Rick said.

"What're you trying to tell me, Rick?" I asked.

"If it came down to it, I'd choose Shane over you." He said.

"What is this some sort of bisexual love triangle, Rick? I'm not going to get sucked into you're childish drama, I know you've just lost your wife but I'm pretty sure you're smart enough to see through the man who tried to rape me." I said standing up, completely forgetting that I didn't have pants or a bra on and walked over to Daryl as he ate his breakfast. "We're going out to the river?" I asked.

"Yeah, I need to get a little clean, it's been a while." He said smirking.

"I know, you smell." I said crinkling my nose, even though it was a lie.

"You know you're half naked?" He asked while chewing.

"Aw, fuck." I said and jogged to my cell and dressed myself and gathered my weapons. I was excited to go out with Daryl. "You ready, handsome?" I asked before even thinking about what I just said. "I mean, uh…fuck." I said and put my head in my hands.

"So, now I'm handsome?" He asked.

"Uh…I…no." I said turning as red as a tomato. Daryl laughed and put on his vest and grabbed his crossbow and usual supplies.

We arrived at the river and I stood at the river bank as I watched Daryl fish. "Are you going to get in the damn water or what?" He asked. My eyes widened in surprise, I had to undress in front of Daryl.

"Uh, I guess." I said.

"What's the fucking problem?" He asked.

"Nothing." I said and kicked off my shoes. Slowly I slid off my jeans and then quickly removed the rest of my clothing and walked into the water. "Fuck." I said and Daryl's head snapped to me.

"What?" He asked his eyes respectfully on mine.

"It's cold." I said crossing my arms over my breasts.

"Oh." He said pulling a fish out of the water. "Caught one." He said smiling to himself; he was now knee deep in water with all of his clothes on. I didn't know how he could be so primal, to know enough how to catch fish without any equipment.

"Good, that's really amazing." I said after dunking my head underwater.

"It's not that hard, you're spooking all the fish over here." He said. I swam further away from Daryl, I could feel his eyes on my naked figure, he was a man after all. His eyes didn't feel wrong, like Shane's did. This didn't make me feel dirty. I looked into the woods and was relieved when I didn't see anyone looking at me. When I was clean enough I began edging out of the water. I bent down to pick up my things, I was aware of every movement I made. "Damn, girl, you sure got a nice body." Daryl said once I was dressed.

"Thanks." I said and sat down on a log near Daryl. "Need any help?" I asked.

"Na, I'm just about done, I think I caught enough." He said.

"Probably more than Glenn." I said.

"Anyone could out-fish Chinaman." He said walking over to me. My eyes locked with his and I studied his eyes, they were filled with some unknown emotion. He slid his arms around my waist and my eyelids fluttered shut as is face grew closer to mine. I expected his lips to be rough but when they came into contact with mine, they were softer than I could've imagined. The kiss lasted for what felt like an eternity but it didn't feel long enough because before I knew it his lips and arms were gone from mine. It was then I realized I had slid off the log and into the freezing water.

"Daryl-."

"Don't talk about it." He said getting out of the river and gathering his stuff.

"But that was really-."

"I said don't talk about it, it was nothing." He said hopping on his bike.

"Why did you-."

"I said don't fucking talk about it!" He yelled. Tears sprung in my eyes as I wrapped my arms around his waist as I got on the bike. He had no right to play with my mind; I should've been stronger and said no. I knew this was going to happen, I'm attached to Daryl in some fucked up way, it started that first day and now I'm the one getting my emotions fucked. The ride home was silent beside the rumble of the motorcycle. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of my clean golden hair whip me in the face and the sensation of the motorcycle's engine running go up to my stomach. I refused to let myself enjoy the feeling of my arms wrapped around Daryl's firm waist. We arrived at the prison and I got off his motorcycle before he could even turn it off. I walked past everyone as they looked at me as I slammed my cell door shut; I wished the door was a real door.

"No fucking privacy in this damn place." I said throwing my shoe against the wall and kicked off the other. "Motherfucker thinks he can control me, fine, he wants to play, game motherfucking on." I murmured to myself. I opened my cell door and motioned for Maggie to follow me. "Hey, how bout a trip to the mall, I think everyone could use some fresh clothes, we can only wash the same clothes so many times." I said.

"The mall? I haven't been to the mall in so long."

"I know, I think we could scavenge some really nice clothes." I said and she nodded.

"All right, I'll go get Glenn." She said.

"No, let's just go, it'll be a surprise besides, you can let Glenn worry about you for a little while."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yes, we can have a little girl time."

"All right, let's go." She nodded.

We pulled up to the mall in the red truck that Glenn took yesterday. Thankfully, there were only a few walkers around and they were easy to take out. "Now, Maggie, let's say I wanted to play a game with a man, what kind of clothes would I buy?"

"I'll help you." She said smirking, like she knew what I was up to.

Glenn's P.O.V…

They had been gone for three hours. I looked around for Maggie once I noticed the truck was gone. I checked everywhere from all the cells to all around the grounds. "Daryl, where the hell is Maggie, have you seen her?" I asked.

"No, I ain't seen no bitch round since I came back from fishing, have any luck?"

"Not much but I can't find her or Aliyah." I said.

"What do you mean; she was in her cage a little while ago." Daryl said.

"She's not an animal, you know."

"I know what she is." Daryl grunted.

"Are you coming to look for them with me or not?" Glenn asked.

"They're fine, if they aren't back by morning, we'll look for them, just shut the fuck up. You can't be controlled by the pussy for the rest of your life."

"I love her, Daryl; I need to look for her."

"Go on, I'm not going, she's fine. She's with Aliyah; they can take care of themselves."

"Whatever, thanks for nothing." I said and slammed all the cell doors shut. Shane looked at me confused.

"Something wrong, Glenn?"

"Maggie and Aliyah are missing." I said.

"We'll look for them if they don't come back tonight." He said.

"That's because you don't give a fuck." I said my blood boiling.

"I care." Shane said.

"Yeah, you care if Aliyah comes back so you can try and rape her again but if she doesn't you don't really give a shit." I said walking away from him.

Aliyah's P.O.V…

I parked the car in its normal spot and looked at Maggie as Glenn ran through the field. "He's going to mad, Maggie, you have to stay strong though, you need to show him that you can handle yourself. You wear the pants in this relationship too." I explained and she nodded, slipping on her new black sweater.

"Where were you?" Glenn demanded opening the passenger door.

"Calm down there cowboy, don't lose your panties. Maggie isn't your little bitch, she can have a life." I said.

"If there was a life to live out there, I'd like to know about it. Nothing good happens out there, you had me worried sick." He said.

"Glenn, I-."

"No, Maggie, don't apologize, we went out and had fun." I said hopping out of the truck. I wore tight black leggings and a low cut red shirt that hung off one shoulder with my new black spiked heels. They weren't going to be too good for combat but there was no way in hell I was dressing like this all the time, just until Daryl decided the game was over.

"Where'd you get those clothes?" He asked.

"The mall." I said shrugging.

"It's the end of the world and you took my girlfriend to the mall?" He asked.

"Yeah, we had some bonding time." I said and Glenn began laughing.

"Next, time just tell me when you're going to go off again." He said.

"Sorry, Glenn, I'm really not a material girl but I have some things I need to straighten out." I said nodding.

"Well, at least you look good." He said. "I-I mean, you two look good."

"Whatever, Glenn, try not to drool too much, but I got you some clothes!" Maggie said her eyes lighting up.

"Great!" He said.

After I gave everyone their clothes, I found Daryl on his perch sharpening his arrows. "Hey." I said walking up to him. His eyes slid over to me slowly, almost in slow motion.

"What?" He asked.

"I got you some clothes from the mall." I said smiling. "I figured everyone deserved something good for a change."

"That's where you and Glenn's bitch went off to?" He asked, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah." I said nodding my head. "Do you like my outfit, Daryl?" I asked my insides a little shaky. I would never have the confidence for this, I didn't know why but when I was around Daryl I was fearless.

"It's…tightfitting and those heels aren't good for running. Are you a prostitute of the world gone to shit?" He asked. And my self-esteem and confidence flew out of the window with that. I threw his new clothes at Daryl and ran to my cell ripping off the heels and throwing them towards the window. I ripped off the clothes and ripped them to shreds with my long fingernails. I held in a long string of curses as I changed into the sweatpants and tank top I took from the mall and my normal combat boots. The one time I try to look decent, I get shot down. As much as I wanted to yell, scream and cry at Daryl, I wouldn't, I knew it would be giving him what he wanted. Talking to Daryl is about the equivalent of talking to a brick wall. I don't know what I was thinking, getting all girly like I used to before I got raped. My body was shaking with rage and every other emotion under the sun. Daryl Dixon can go fuck himself.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! I'm real excited to post this, like REALLY excited :) hehe! Anyways, I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:

**xShyxPandax18: Aw, thanks! And yeah, I thought it'd be nice since I love clothes!**

**Angelina: Thank you!**

**Sissymac: Thank you!**

**Hayleyjune13: tehe**

**FanFicGirl10: Aw, thanks!**

Emily xoxo

_My first real boyfriend was in the eleventh grade, his name was Michael and like me, he wasn't too popular. Michael was considered a goth or emo person just because he had long hair. He wasn't emotionally unstable but he needed me at the time. His family was falling apart, along with his life. He would turn to violence but that was usually a battle he couldn't beat. We met before I was raped, he was there for me when it happened but I had given up all hope for men. I left him and kept my distance, three weeks later I was told that his father killed him for a reason I wasn't aware of. I was sad about it but I couldn't make myself become all torn up inside, more than I already was. Michael taught me a lesson though; never make yourself love someone who needs you more than you can provide. It becomes emotionally exhausting; I should've remained friends with him and never said yes to him when he asked me out. _

"Are you all right?" Andrea asked her blue eyes peering into my cell as I sat on the cement floor pulling on my shoelaces.

"I'm fine, Andrea, how are you?" I asked narrowing my green eyes at her.

"I'm ok, I'm going for a run, want to come?" Going for a run my ass, no one runs these days.

"Honestly, I'd rather stick a stake through my head than do anything with anyone right now, let alone you." I said.

"Are you PMS-ing honey, I can get you some pills for that, I have some extras." She said. As much as I wanted to jump up and rip her throat out I couldn't. I wasn't ready to fight one of the group members, I've been there, done that and got kicked out.

"Go fuck Shane honey; I'm sure he'd like that." I said banging my head against the metal pole of the bunk bed.

"No, seriously, I'm worried about you." She said. She knew what she was doing.

"Say one more thing to me and I'll tear your white ass apart."

"I didn't know you were a lesbian, in that case, I'm sure you want to tear my ass apart." She said. I jumped up and flung my cell door open, hitting her in the nose causing it to bleed.

"Do you want to rethink that statement?" I asked. "I will not hesitate to beat your ass, sweetheart, so you might as well take a walk before I do." I said, the rage inside me building.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on here?" Shane asked jumping from a step.

"I'll beat your ass too, Shane." I said.

"Aliyah." Rick said looking at me with his baby in his arms.

"Take the baby away, Rick, I'm about to kill these motherfuckers!" I yelled taking a step closer to Andrea.

"Daryl!" Rick said and out of nowhere I was pinned against a closed cell, the bars pushing into my back.

"Go on, Andrea, Shane, run away like the scared fuckers you are!" I yelled as they walked away. "Daryl, you best get your hands off of me." I said looking him in the eyes.

"Since when are you mental?" He asked.

"Since you fucking played my ass!" I yelled. "It's either like me or you don't, you can't do both." I said calming down.

"I don't like you, Aliyah. I'll never like anyone." He said.

"So, that, you know, meant absolutely nothing, I could die tomorrow and you wouldn't care?" I asked. He stepped back and walked off. The silence hurt the most, somehow I knew the answer was no, he wouldn't care. Being around Daryl was like being on an emotional rollercoaster, he might not have any feelings but I sure as hell do. I don't think it's good for me to be around him, I don't know if it's good for me to be here at all. I've just been conflicting with everyone and I feel like I'm just weighing them down. It was thoughts like these that made me want to pack my bags and leave. I walked outside and sat on the stairs of the prison. I watched the sky shift for hours, I was conflicted. Daryl was driving me nuts and I shouldn't let him get to me this much. "Hey." Maggie said stepping out of the prison. "I'm taking that the whole new outfit thing didn't go over to well."

"You think? He hated it." I said.

"I'm sorry, it was my idea." Maggie said. "We should've gone with something more… dirty and country."

"Don't blame yourself; I was fooling myself trying to impress him, to try to play him. It's impossible to beat someone at their own game."

"It's Daryl Dixon we're talking about, do you even like him?" She asked.

"He kissed me, the little hope I had left for being in a relationship went through the roof I was thinking I could change his mind. I'm the only one trying in this mess. I guess I shouldn't even care anymore. This life isn't about romance or rendez-vous-ing with someone, it's about survival. I just want to be loved and I don't think that Daryl is the right person for me to look for love with." I said.

"I would give you my honest opinion but I don't want you to rip my head off." She said.

"No, what the fuck, go for it." I said.

"I know Daryl isn't right for you, he's not what you're looking for. Personally, I don't think any of us are." She said.

"Yeah, so basically, either make it right with Daryl or I'm hopeless." I said shaking my head. "I'm not going to force a relationship with Daryl." Once I was told an Emily Dickinson quote; "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune—without words, and never stops at all." It described how I felt because hope will never cease being inside me but I don't want it to be built up to an all-time height and just be crushed like it was by Daryl.

"I'm sure you'll find someone in this world. Out of the people who are left, someone has to be right for you. Look at me, I found my soul mate." Maggie said.

"Yeah, but I don't want to go searching for love. Now that the world has ended love shouldn't matter, it should be all about survival. I shouldn't be torn up because Daryl is carless bastard. I shouldn't have threatened Andrea or Shane, no matter how much I don't like them because that's not who I am. I'm not a killer and there I was hours ago, threatening to end their lives. I've never been violent, I was the girl who sat at home and watched the food network and cried when old people didn't go far in a competition show." I said.

"Everything's different now, Aliyah, just go for it." She said and I nodded.

"Before I go for it, I need to fuck things up a bit. I need to tell Daryl about what happened the other day." I said.

"No, not now Aliyah, this isn't the time." She said.

"When is the time? When I'm on my death bed, tomorrow or next week? Does it even matter; he's still going to hate me." I said.

"It's not your fault, you didn't know, Glenn did and if he was thinking he should've tried to talk to Merle."

"Fine, whatever."

Daryl's P.O.V…

I watched Aliyah's slender figure walk across the cell block and into her cell. I didn't know what was wrong with me, I have never wanted to be around someone before but watching Aliyah made me want to talk to her. I've also never wanted to sleep with someone so bad, she was something else, her blonde hair flowed down to her shoulder blades and her eyes were big and vibrant. Aliyah seemed delicate because she was raped; she took note of everything and was searching for answers that weren't there. The kiss was a great example, I wasn't thinking when I did it and I shouldn't have done it. Ever since then she was an emotional mess for no reason. I didn't know what it was like to feel hurt by a potential lover or whatever she thought I was. I knew what it was like to be betrayed, like when my brother was left on that roof. I was never so pissed before then. I didn't know what it felt like to love or enjoy someone's company. I would fuck someone but that was it, my life went no further than that. The only person I wanted to be around was Merle; he was always there as fucked up as he is. I didn't understand why I wanted to talk to her; I wouldn't know what to say if I went over to her cell. I've never been good with people and probably never will be. I stood up and approached her cell and saw her green eyes connect with mine; they were the only thing I could see in the dark cell block. "Aliyah, I'm coming in." I said.

Aliyah's P.O.V…

"What now?" I asked still irritated. He sat down next to me and his leg touched mine, this time there was no space in between our legs. His blue eyes were intent on mine.

"I don't know what you think we are but I can promise you it's not the case." He said.

"Did you come in here just to make it worse for me?" I asked, looking down.

"I'm no good with words…" He said and lifted my chin with his rough thumb. Just go for it…Maggie's words rang through my head. His face came closer to mine and I closed my eyes and anticipated his lips on mine. He pressed his lips to mine and I moved my lips with his, our lips moving together in an uncoordinated synch. His tongue brushed my bottom lip and I opened my mouth slightly, letting his tongue explore my mouth. My tongue brushed his and it was amazing, his warmth radiating through me. I shifted a little so I was straddling him. He moved his lips to my neck and I threw my head back and ran my hands down his chest. I moaned as his tongue flicked across my neck and he nibbled on the sensitive skin and sucked.

"Daryl." I whispered, attempting to be quiet knowing everyone was close by. He lifted my shirt above my head and grasped my waist and kissed my breast his tongue slipping under my bra. I knew he was leaving little marks all over but I didn't care.

"What's going on here?" Carl asked from outside my cell and I jumped off of Daryl and pulled my shirt back on before Carl's eyes could adjust.

"Shh, Daryl and I are talking." I whispered.

"Oh, are you mad at him?" He asked.

"Yes, go away." I said and he left without another word. I slid back onto Daryl's lap. "This isn't a good place to do any of this, you know?" I asked.

"I think we should stop now before this goes any further." He whispered.

"You don't want me?" I asked.

"Right now I do, just not so everyone can hear." He said, making my heart feel warm. "I'm going to go back to my perch." He said standing up.

"No, Daryl, please stay?" I pleaded.

"No, I don't think so." He said and walked off. It didn't hurt to hear him say no. Whether he was playing me or not, it felt amazing to have someone kiss me gently and without their hot drunken breath all over me. Daryl was so different from the men who raped me and from Shane. I laid down and pulled the blankets tight against me as I fell into a light sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note:

Hey, everyone, I'm sorry that this chapter is short but I've been working on a research paper all day, crazy, I know. Anyways, I'm sorry if this sucks or whatever but my brain is kind of fried. I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:

**xShyxPandax18: Haha, oh yeahhhh ;)**

**FanFicGirl10: Hmm, maybe ;)**

**Hayleyjune13: Haha, I feel you!**

**Sissymac: Haha, thank you!**

Emily xoxo

The sunlight poured through the prison windows the next morning. I sat up and touched my lips; I could still feel Daryl's soft lips all over mine. I found the mirror I had gotten from the pharmacy and opened it. There was a trail of dark hickeys leading from beneath my ear and all across my collarbone with a few scattered on my breasts. I wasn't ready to be interrogated by the group; I was in desperate need of a turtleneck. I pulled on my old flannel shirt that covered my collarbone and pushed all of my hair to the right side and pulled on my sweats and combat boots. I stepped out of my cell and immediately made eye contact with Daryl and smiled, it was nice having a secret. "Hey, you!" Maggie said happily as she approached me.

"Um, hi." I said. "Why so peppy, did you and Glenn have a good night?" I asked. It was strange that Maggie and I had become friends; I wasn't one for having girl friends because girls are a lot of drama.

"Did _you_ have a good night?" She asked her eyes wide.

"It was fine, why?" I asked.

"I hope you know Glenn and I are right next to you, we're only separated by a thin wall." She said. Well, I guess it wasn't as secret as I thought it was.

"Shit, it was fine, thank you very much. Who else knows?" I asked.

"I think just me, Glenn was snoring." She said shaking her head.

"Good, don't mention it to anyone." I said.

"I don't have any plans on it, oh my goodness it sounded intense!" She said.

"Could you not discuss it when he's fifty feet away?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, it's just so exciting to have a new love blossoming." She said.

"It's not blossoming, it's not going anywhere as of now." I said.

"Ok, fine, I'll be quiet now." She said nodding. Andrea passed us; she now had a Band-Aid on her nose.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have threatened you."

"That's right; you shouldn't have threatened me or Shane." She said. "You should apologize to him as well."

"I should do a lot of things and I do a lot of things I shouldn't do, apologizing to Shane is neither of them."

"Why not? He's never done anything wrong." She said

"He almost raped me." I said.

"Almost, you don't know if he would have carried through with it."

"Do you really believe that?" I asked.

"Shane's a good man." She said with a nod.

"I think you need to pull your head out of your ass." I said.

"I'm not wrong, Shane can act on a whim sometimes but if you apologize, he'll never give you problems again."

"I'm really trying here, Andrea, but every time you open your mouth, you're making it harder.

"Fine, I knew you would just cause more problems for the group.

"Somehow I don't think I'm the problem. It's understandable for Rick to need Shane. You don't have a reason unless you're fucking him."

I'm not sleeping with Shane."

"But you wish you were." I said and walked away. She got under my skin but not to the point where I wanted to kill her at every moment. She probably doesn't know how to cope without a man. I approached Daryl and he studied me for a few moments.

"Why's your hair all fucked up?" He asked.

"I don't want everyone seeing my neck." I said.

"The fuck's wrong with your neck?" He asked pushing my hair aside. "You're embarrassed about it?" He asked.

"No, but I-."

"Let them see it, there's no sense in hiding it. It's not like they're your parents." He said.

"I know but I didn't know if you wanted them to know."

"I don't give a fuck, I like seeing my work." He said proud of his himself.

"Fine you win." I said nodding and fixing my hair. He unbuttoned the first two buttons on my shirt.

"That's better." He murmured and I laughed.

"Are we ever going to continue what we started last night?" I asked playing with the hem of my shirt.

"We'll see I'm not one for fucking in front of everyone." He said causing the red in my cheeks to deepen.

"Maybe next time we go back to the river." I said.

"Little eager?" He asked.

"No, I just enjoyed it. Even though we didn't do a lot it just felt…nice. It's been a long time, Daryl." I said.

"I told you drunks don't lie." He said. "You want me."

"Shut up." I said.

"It's alright, I'm a man, I don't mind." He said.

"Shh, everyone will hear you." I said as everyone walked into the cell block and out of their cells.

"Hear what? That you want to fuck me?" He asked smirking.

"Whatever, Daryl, just be quiet." I said.

"Daryl, we have a situation." Rick said and I saw a flash of dark skin. "This girl found us, saying she overheard Glenn and Maggie talking about the prison, she said Aliyah was present. Daryl's eyes shifted from me to the girl.

"Why the fuck is she in the prison?"

"We don't know what to do with her. She said she was kidnapped, we don't kill victims." Rick said.

"I was kidnapped and the man the Asian was-."

"Shut up." Glenn said quickly.

"What man is she talking about?" Rick asked.

"His name is-."

"Fuck! Shut your mouth!" I yelled at her. I couldn't fuck things up with Daryl just yet.

"What's wrong, Blondie got a secret?" She asked. Rick looked at me, Glenn and Maggie.

"What's your name?" Rick asked.

"You don't need to know my name." She said.

"Then you don't need to be armed." Rick said swiftly taking her sword. "You're not a prisoner here but Herschel is going to stitch you up."

"Better think twice before opening your mouth again or we might just change our mind."

"Aliyah, Glenn, Maggie, come with me, we need to discuss this."

"Fine." I said and nodded in agreement.

Rick pulled us aside in the cafeteria. "What's going on here?" He asked.

"Nothing, just talking to you babycakes." I said smiling sincerely at him.

"You know what I mean." He said crossing his arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about, actually, but when Herschel's done, she's leaving." I said.

"Maggie, Aliyah and I will take her back, blindfolded so she doesn't know exactly where she is." Glenn said nodding.

"Fine, but planning on telling me what happened when you get back."

"Ok, sounds good, Rick." I said nodding.

"In the meantime, stay out of trouble." He said.

"Sure, will do." I said walking back to my cell and closing the door. Sitting on the floor, like usual, memories surfaced to the front of my brain.

_I opened my eyes and closed them after a few seconds of blindingly white light filled my vision. I then opened my eyes slowly, and then sat up and reached over and grabbed my phone, despite the pull from the drip that threatens to fall onto of me. I pushed the drip a little further away, the contents of the medicine bag swaying. I unlock my phone and slide down the notifications bar to see three unread messages from Michael. 'Hey, babe.' One read, 'what are you doing?' the next read and finally, 'hope you're ok.' I replied quickly, 'I'm in the hospital.' Memories from the night before flooded my mind; I tried to repress them as tears fell down my cheeks, the tears stinging my open wounds. The door opened and a nurse looked at me and smiled sympathetically. "Hi, honey, how're you feeling?" She asked. I shrugged, my voice feeling lost within me. "I'll tell the doctor you're up." She said and I nodded at her. I got up and gently pulled the needle from my arm and walking over to the mirror. I felt my heart break at the sight of me; I didn't even look like myself. Both of my eyes were blackened, my bottom lip swollen and cut. Cuts were everywhere on my swollen face. My eyes were dilated and my nose was clearly broken. I had looked like I had gotten gang jumped; I thought I was stronger than this. I told myself as sobs racked my body. The door swung open and a man about twenty-five walked in. _

"_You're not supposed to be standing, you have a severe concussion." He said and reached out to touch my arm. I flinched away from him as fresh tears sprung up to my eyes. _

"_Don't." I said my eyes hard and my voice sounding broken._

"_Ok, I'm sorry, I won't hurt you." He said and I backed up._

"_What do you think they said?" I asked my brow furrowing. "I won't hurt you, you're ok, stop talking and you'll enjoy it, don't move." _

"_I'm so sorry for what happened to you Miss Summers."_

"_Did they catch them?" I asked._

"_Unfortunately, they didn't."_

"_Then, I shouldn't be here, they could find me!" I said grabbing my tattered clothes._

"_It's ok, your mom's here, she's going to come in." He said._

"_I need to get home; they're going to kill me." I said my eyes darting around like crazy._

"_Stop, you need to rest." _

"_No! How could this happen to me!" I yelled. "How come I was the one? I was just trying to stop them from killing the old woman! How dare they do this to me!" I screamed. "I'm stupid, stupid, stupid!" I yelled through my tears digging my nails into my arms till they bled._

"_Stop it; you're going to hurt yourself." The doctor ordered._

"_I should be dead for being so goddamn stupid! How did this happen?" I asked before everything faded to black._

I snapped out of my trance, my tears falling off my face. I looked down at my arms and wiped away the blood. Like every time I remember my hospital experience I end up clawing my arms. "Aliyah." Daryl said looking into my cage, as if I was a caged wounded animal.

"What?" I asked.

"You were yelling, what was that all about?" He asked.

"I was what?" I asked my eyes widening.

"Screaming actually, about how stupid you were for letting something happen to you."

"Just remembering, Daryl." His face scrunched in confusion. "Remembering things about my rape." I said and he nodded.

"Those damn bastards." He said and sauntered off. The whole group probably thought I was mental now; it didn't register in my brain that I was yelling. I walked out of my cell and everyone looked at me, Maggie walked over to me.

"You should get some bandages for those." She said and I nodded.

"You don't think I'm crazy, do you?" I asked.

"No, of course not, you were raped, right?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, it's not something I like talking about." I said.

"I'm sorry, come on let's get some bandages." She said putting her arm around my shoulder and walking with me to get some bandages.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note:

Alright guys I'm back! Yay! Guess who fell off of the writing wagon? This girl. I had exams, the flu, bronchitis and an ear infection! I have had about half of this chapter written for a while now but I've been extra busy. I might update before Sunday, the greatest day ever! Who's excited about the new show? Any predictions for what's going to happen?

I'd like to thank the following for reviewing:

**Daryldixonswife: **aw you're such a doll! Thank you!

**Bdaseezy: **haha, I am right now!

**xShyxPandax18: **why thank you!

**hayleyjune13: **thank you, love!

**FanFicGirl10:** why yes, shit is going down! Thank you!

Emily xoxo

A twig snapped underneath my feet as I stepped into the woods. The woman's sword strung on my back as Glenn guided her through the woods. "Why was Merle such a big secret?" She asked.

"The group thinks he's dead, he's related to one of our own." Glenn answered.

"You can't hide from him forever, believe me I know it. He was where I was kidnapped."

"I know Merle, I'm aware that he's dangerous."

"This world is dangerous." She said.

"What else is new?" Glenn said his eyes shifting around the trees. "What's your name?"

"Michonne." She said.

"I'm Glenn." He said continuing to keep walking forward.

"Hey, look who it is! Glenn, I see you got yourself a pet!" An all too familiar voice said.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Glenn asked turning around, panic in his eyes.

"I just want to know if my baby brothers alive." He said.

"If we tell you will you just leave?" Glenn asked.

"Sure, promise." Merle said smiling. Glenn looked at me and Maggie and nodded.

"He's fine." I said.

"Good, hey, you were the little lady in the river, damn; you sure are something, sweetheart." He said causing me to flush red. "So, he's fine, is that right?" He asked but didn't wait for an answer. "Tell me where he is."

"Fuck you." I said crossing my arms.

"Aliyah…" Glenn said in a warning tone.

"I'm not afraid of anyone, Glenn; he can't do anything to me that hasn't been done already."

"Good ol' Merle can do a lot of things you ain't ever heard of." He said smiling confidently. I looked him in the eye and recognized the same shade of blue that Daryl's eyes were.

"I don't think you can. Now, let's assess this situation, Daryl's safe and healthy and all of that good shit, he doesn't need his brother around."

"How would you know, you fucking my brother?"

"I'm not doing anything with Daryl but needless to say, we don't need you."

"Alright, that's it." Merle said and three men walked out from behind the trees and quickly blindfolded me.

"Glenn!" Maggie cried out, I guess they blindfolded all of us.

"You better get your hands off of me!" I yelled.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Aliyah; we never forgot about us, have you forgotten us?" The man said.

"What?" I asked.

"You thought you were a big shot, you know about five maybe six years ago we had some real fun. Merle, she's a great fuck." The man said squeezing my breast.

"No, please." I pleaded.

"Now we got a name for you, pretty." Another said.

"Fuck yeah, now the real fun can begin." The final one said. Dread filled me as a calloused hand ran down my side. I was frozen, shocked. Daryl was wrong, men like these never die. Even if they are dead physically, the scars never fade.

"Now, honey we'll take care of you." I closed my eyes as I passed out, I was completely shocked.

I woke up alone and thankfully clothed, I didn't feel violated. I went to stretch when I realized my wrists and ankles were bound. "Get me out of here!" I screamed. "Please!"

"Shh, Aliyah, I'm in the room next to you, don't yell." Glenn's voice came to me.

"How could I not?" I asked. "Those men are my rapists."

"It'll be alright, Michonne will find our…place and Rick will come for us."

"Daryl's going to kill someone, hopefully me." I said.

"Don't talk like that; he's not going to kill anyone except maybe your rapists." Glenn said. A few minutes later my door to my room opened and my eyes widened.

3rd Person P.O.V…

The governor stepped through the doorway of Aliyah's room. He inspected her, the way she glanced at him with widened fearful eyes. "I'm going to sit, is that ok?" He asked.

"Would it make a difference if I said no?" She asked her green eyes focusing on him, watching him like a predator.

"I'm trying to be a gentleman."

"Yeah, you're so nice!" She said sarcastically.

"Are you going to talk?" He asked.

"Are you going to untie me?" She asked in return.

"Sure." He said standing up as someone knocked at the door. He crossed the room and opened the door.

"I can handle this one; you talk to pretty boy's girl." Merle said.

"Remember, I make the orders Merle." He said and Merle nodded. "She giving you a hard time?"

"She needs to be put in her place."

As the door closed Merle smiled at Aliyah. "Since you're so close with my baby brother, you might as well tell me where he is."

"Maybe when I'm dead." Aliyah said staring at Merle's bloodied nose. "Then again maybe not." She shrugged.

"Look, he's my brother; wouldn't you want to know where your family was?"

"Couldn't relate, my family's dead."

"What have I ever done to you that you would be so cruel, I know you can relate sunshine."

"Look at me now."

"Tell me where my brother is and no one has to get hurt, sweetheart."

"Untie me, let me out of this place and I'll let you know if he wants to see you."

"Not gonna happen."

"Alright, fine, better kill me now; I'm just wasting your time." She said.

"So, you won't talk." Merle stated.

"Nope, it's really not happening."

"Ok." He nodded and walked up to her and her eyes closed as a cold blade came into contact with her skin. "How about now?" He asked.

"I dare you." She said and her eyes flew open as she felt the blade drag down her skin and blood bubble to the surface.

"Truth or dare, sugar." In a rage she stood up and rammed the chair into the wall as her ankle freed itself.

"I'm not a pussy, Merle, go right ahead, and slice me up till I'm unrecognizable." She challenged. She now knew Merle was not one to challenge but she could not see through the thick curtain of red in her eyes.

"Nah, I think I'll just let you bleed out for a while. He said dragging his blade against the thin skin under her eyes. "Watch out for the biters, they smell blood." He said smirking and slamming the door.

At the Prison…

It was night by the time Michonne reached the prison again. Daryl stormed over to her. "Why the fuck are you here? Where are they?" He demanded.

"They got kidnapped by the same people who captured me." She said.

"What the fuck do you mean kidnapped?"

"I mean what I said; they got captured and are probably dead. Little Blondie went mouthing off to the wrong person."

"The wrong person? Did you set this up?"

"No, if I set it up would I be willing to take you where they are?"

"You better not be fucking around." Daryl said before heading towards Rick.

"They got captured by some dumb fucks, Rick. Let's go."

"I think we need to wait until morning, it's late and we need the light." He said shoveling another spoonful of food into his mouth.

"Are you deaf? I said they were kidnapped; we need to fucking go now! First you leave Merle on that goddamned roof and now you're abandoning Aliyah? How much more do you think I can take before I kill you?" Daryl yelled his face red.

"Alright, I'm sorry, let's go but you need to have a level head about this." Rick said standing up.

"It's right through these woods, they call it Woodbury, it's run by some guy, calls himself the governor." Michonne said.

"He's a governor?"

"Not a real governor."

"Sound's sketchy." Andrea said.

"Why would they take them?" Daryl asked.

"I don't know, probably just want some information." Michonne said shrugging.

"Whatever." Daryl said, he thought Michonne was in on it.

"Here we are." Michonne said a while later. "Follow me."

"Let me put some bandages on you, you're going to bleed out." The governor said walking up to Aliyah.

"I'd rather bleed out." She said through clenched teeth.

"No you wouldn't." He said resting his hand on her thigh. Instantly, she stiffened up and her breathing became ragged. "Hey, I won't hurt you." He said as flashbacks flashed before Aliyah's eyes. He wrapped bandages around her arm but left her eyes alone.

"I'm not talking about it with you." She said.

"Hey, lighten up; everything's going to be alright." He said.

"Just peachy." She said.

"I didn't know Merle was going to slice you up." He said.

"Like you would've stopped him, just stop talking." She said.

"Fine, I'm leaving all right, let me know when you want to tell me where your group is, ok?" He asked.

"Let me know when you realize I'm never going to talk to you." She said, her words final.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note:

Hey everybody! It's weekly update time, I guess. Anyways here's chapter ten!

I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:

DarylDixonsWife: Haha, aw thanks!

FanFicGirl10: Yeah Aliyah definitely needs to work on shutting up.

Sissymac: aww, thanks!

Love you guys!

Emily xoxo

I blinked once, twice then three times at my surroundings. Where was I? I thought as I touched the pillow on the bed. Last time I checked I was a prisoner. I shrugged and got up and sauntered over to the door and turned the doorknob only to realize it was locked. I kicked the door just before it swung open at me. "Whoa there honey, calm down it's all right." Merle said smiling at me.

"Come to cut me some more?" I asked.

"Nope, just wanted a calm discussion." He said stepping through the threshold.

"Yeah? Go on, talk." I said.

"I know you don't think highly of me now but I don't have any bad intentions or shit like that. I'm just a man looking for his brother; can't you see that I just want my baby brother back?" He asked calmly.

"I think you are fully capable of finding Daryl by yourself if you really wanted to, I think your priorities are being fucked up the ass right now. You're concentrating on the wrong things, I got some news, Merle, Daryl isn't hiding, he doesn't know you're alive or anything. If you wanted to find him you have to look first." I said cocking my head to the side, analyzing Merle's perplexed expression.

"You could make it a whole hell of a lot easier for me by telling me where he is." He said.

"I'm not going to participate in your small minded games anymore so either take what I just said into consideration or just stop trying to get more information out of any of us." I said.

"Whatever, if you think I'm going to stop trying you're fucking wrong, I figured I should attempt Mr. nice guy but guess I'll have to resort to my old ways." He said and walked out the door, just before the door slammed to a close I swung it open again but didn't cause a scene about it, knowing I could easily sneak around him and find Glenn and Maggie.

"Where do you think you're going?" A gruff voice said as Merle whipped around.

"Blondie, what the fuck are you doing? I'm not gonna play cat and mouse with you. You're going back to your cage.

"Fine with me." I said blinking the cool air from a fan brushed the back of my neck drying the beads of sweat.

"Glad to see your back in commission can't wait to get an answer out of you." He said.

"Going to be waiting a long time." I said as the door to my makeshift cell closed.

"Yeah, we'll see about that." His muffled voice came through the door.

"Glenn, you still there?" I asked a few minutes later.

"Yeah, where did they take you, are you all right?" He asked.

"A room with a bed and a nice guy approach. I gave Merle some shitty advice like I was talking to Rick. I don't know what's wrong with me, Glenn." I said running my index finger over the raised skin on my arm.

"You just want to get back just as much as Maggie and I do."

"What if they don't come?" I asked.

"Rick, Daryl and Shane? They'll be here before you know it."

"Yeah, sure-." I was cut off by footsteps coming from down the hall. Would Rick be here this soon? I thought desperately. The door creaked open and my worst nightmare stepped through the door.

"Howdy, Aliyah, how you doing tonight?" One out of three men asked as they stepped closer to me.

"Our boy, Merle, says you know where his brother is and you're going to tell us." Another said grabbing my arm, forcing me to stand up.

"Or what?" I asked.

"We'll fuck you again and fuck up your pretty little face till no one can recognize you, till no one will want your fat ass." He said.

"Nah, sunshine, you ain't fat." The final one said his long dark eyelashes hiding the beauty of his blue eyes. A feeling of dread twisted around my stomach as I felt a man's little friend grow against my side.

"You can't do this to me, not again." I said choking over my words.

"Oh, really?" The tallest one said slipping his finger under the elastic of my sweatpants. I began trembling as more flashbacks crossed my mind.

"No, fuck you, you aren't going to do this to me again!" I screamed and began thrashing. "I don't give a shit, I'm a stronger woman than when I was seventeen, you're not going to do this again." I said while hot, angry tears of disgust fell down my cheeks.

"Like hell we are." As I was pushed down to the ground and my sweatpants were torn away from legs. I felt my body go rigid while my insides fought for myself but my body wouldn't perform the actions needed to protect myself. I was silent as the first man entered me, after roughly tearing my legs apart. He pounded into me, relentlessly. I stared up at the ceiling as my life began flashing before my eyes, I was suddenly grateful for everything I had, especially Daryl. His blue eyes were on mine as the man on me emptied his contents inside of me. The other's took their turns for what felt like an eternity, until I finally felt a voice of reason from inside my head.

"What the fuck are you doing? You're just going to let these bastards take advantage of you?" His voice echoed inside my head. "Do something, anything!" He urged as the next got on top of me. What am I supposed to do? I asked. "Anything, don't be a stupid bitch." He said as I was snapped into reality as a dick was shoved down my throat as the second finished himself off. I instantly bit down and kicked the second one. I stood up with my shaky legs, like a baby deer learning to stand.

"How dare you motherfuckers take advantage of me again!" I said my eyes raging. The door flew open and my head snapped to the door where the man I was falling in love with stood. Fortunately, the three men didn't realize the door was open. "You had no fucking right to take advantage of me, to rape me for a second time. You're fucking sick bastards." I notice how Daryl reacted; his body began shaking with rage. I took a step closer to them. "How about I rip your dicks off now?" I demanded. "Your tiny pathetic dicks." I kneed all three off them, bringing them down to the ground and the tallest grabbed my thigh and pushed his finger into me.

"You know you like this." He said as he tightened his grip on me. I looked to Daryl with wide eyes and he loaded his crossbow.

"We ain't got time for this shit." He said as he shot one through the brain, then the second and third. "Put something on." He said as he gathered his arrows. "As much as I would've liked to kill them slowly, we don't have any time, we have to go." He said.

"Go without me, I deserve to die." I said as tears began streaming down my face once again.

"Now is not the time to play any fucking games, let's go." He said.

"I'm serious, Daryl, I couldn't protect myself, how could I protect any of you?" I asked.

"You are a victim, let's go." He said and grabbed my arm and I ripped it away.

"No! I'm not going!" I screamed.

"Come the fuck on!" He screamed right back at me. "I fucking argued with Rick to get you now, you're not going to fucking give up on me now!" He screamed his eyes becoming watery.

"Daryl, I'm not worth it." I said.

"I can't lose you too, Aliyah." He said grabbing my wrist and yanking me out of the room. I just cried the whole way he led me through the building and back to the group. I was worthless, I'm weak and can't protect anything, not even myself.

"Aliyah, I'm so sorry!" Glenn said, I said as I shook my head. Daryl faced me with his eyes on mine.

"You're not staying here." He said and pressed his lips to mine, I didn't even react, I couldn't.

"Daryl, it was…it was Merle, your brother…who brought us here." I said.

"What do you mean, Merle? Where is he, I need to see him, maybe I can work something out!"

"Daryl, look at me, look at my scars, my cuts and bruises, these aren't from my rapists, they're from your brother, he was the perv in the lake, he's no good." I said.

"He's my brother!" He screamed as I passed out.

When I came around back into consciousness I was lying on the ground next to Daryl, behind a bench as he continuously shot a gun. There was smoke in the air; I didn't even know how he could see what he was shooting at. "Daryl, where's the group?" I asked sitting up, shaking the rocks out from my hair.

"We split up; it's the best chance we're going to make it out of here."

"At least we have a chance." I said as I pulled myself into a crouching position, my whole body was sore.

"Stay down, don't risk getting shot." He said.

"You are."

"Yeah, that's me, I'm fine, you've been raped." He said.

"I'm still fine, don't treat me like a victim, Daryl." I said.

"You are a victim, I'm just glad I killed those bastards." He said.

"Thank you, Daryl." I said.

"Yeah, you're welcome." He grunted as he reloaded.

"Daryl!" I heard Rick yell from somewhere off in the distance.

"Let's go, Rick's yelling for you."

"It's not safe." He said.

Suddenly there was something pulled over my head, most likely a pillowcase as I heard Daryl swear. "You best let me go!" He said.

"Not happening."

"Are you fucking crazy?" I demanded as I was being pushed forward. I listened closely as the atmosphere had gone tense; I knew we were wherever this man was taking us.

"You wanted your brother, well you got him!" Someone said loudly and I heard people gasp; apparently we were a source of amusement for these sick bastards. "You say your loyalties lie here, well let's put that to the test, you two will fight, to the death!"

"Fuck this shit." I mumbled and ripped myself out of the persons grasp and ripped off the pillowcase from my head.

"You fucking piece of shit, blood is thicker than water no matter what." I screamed.

"Aw, you want to watch?" The man said his calm eyes, well eye, on mine.

"Do you want to die?" I demanded taking a step towards him.

"Aliyah, back off." Daryl said.

"How the fuck can I back off?" I asked, exasperated.

"It'll be a fair fight." He said calmly. I realized they both must have a plan to get out of there, but I didn't know what it was. I drew in a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"Fine, you want to be a fucking douchebag, go ahead." I said playing along. He nodded curtly and then the fight began.


	11. Chapter 11

Authors Note:

Hurray! Here's chapter 11! I'll thank all of you in my next chapter, I'm in a rush, bout to head out so, thank you all and a more formal thank you will be given later!

Love you all!

Emily xoxo

When we arrived at the highway you could feel the tension in the air. "Why is Merle here? He's the reason all of this happened?" Glenn asked through clenched teeth.

"Blood is blood, Glenn." I said.

"It doesn't really matter these days, does it?" He said.

"Actually it does matter these days; just because we've lost the world we used to know doesn't mean we have to lose ourselves." I said putting my hands on my hips. "How dare you expect someone to just turn their back on their own family." I said. "I don't know who the hell you think you are Glenn but you need to step off of your little pedestal and back down."

"How can you be on Merle's side in all of this? He's responsible for your rape!" He yelled.

"I hate to tell you but Merle isn't responsible for my rape just like he's not responsible for Maggie's almost rape." I yelled.

"Yeah then who is?" He demanded.

"The governor and my old rapists, so no Glenn as much as you want to you can't blame Merle for all of this. Merle wasn't in that room ripping off my clothes and violating me so how could I blame him?" I asked.

"You've been victimized; you don't know what you're talking about."

"I know what the hell I'm talking about Glenn and you know I'm right. I don't know why but you're on a power trip."

"I want to make sure that the group is safe when they enter the prison and Merle is no way safe."

"Fuck you." I said pushing him.

"Don't put your hands on me!" He growled.

"Why you going to jump in on the abuse train too?" I asked cocking my head.

"He's right." Rick said. "Glenn's right, Merle can't stay."

"Fine, no Merle no me." Daryl said gathering his crossbow.

"Fuck this, no Merle, no Daryl, no me." I said walking over to him.

"Aliyah, don't do this, these people are your family now." Daryl said. "They need you."

"Daryl, you know I would never let you leave without me."

"Ok, fine then it's settled." He said as we sauntered over to Merle who was in the woods.

"Welcome to the family, Blondie." He said.

"Thanks, Merle." I said.

"About what happened at Woodbury, you need to forget about it, you know forgive and forget?" He suggested.

"Sure, I don't really hold you responsible anyways; you were just looking for the security in a group. What you did was wrong and you need to recognize it." I said.

"Of course I do, Blondie, it's me you and Daryl against the world."

"Stop bonding you two, I'm going hunting, Merle you take Aliyah up on the mountain, I don't think there's any walkers up there, it looks secure." Daryl nodded. "I'll be back by nightfall."

"Alright." Merle said and nodded.

"Let's go." I said and we set off walking.

We arrived at the top of the mountain a half hour later. "Shit, it's beautiful." I said and Merle shrugged.

"It's all right, turns out we never went too far from our old camp." He said and sighed."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"This is our old camp." He said referencing the built in fire pit and the lake that was secluded by a mountain.

"Why did you all leave?" I asked.

"Beats me, they left me on a roof before they ever left but I'm thinking walkers probably had something to do with it."

"Most likely, I'm going to go break in the lake, don't watch me." I said.

"Sure thing, little lady." He said.

Once I made it down to the lake I let out a sigh of relief, there was no way that anyone could spy on me without me knowing. I stripped off my clothes and set out into the icy water. The lake was pristine, blue as the sky on a clear day. It was one portion of the world left untouched by the end of the world. I swam out deeper and eventually to the other side, never letting my feet touch the bottom. As I began returning to the shore I heard Merle shouting at someone, it was too early for Daryl to come back. Curiosity struck me and I threw on my clothes quickly before jogging up the hill to camp. "This is my camp, I found it first!" I heard a girl shout.

"Hate to tell you sugar lips but we found this camp way before you did, who did you think built the fire pit? The walkers?" Merle demanded.

"It doesn't matter, you left." She said.

"Merle, what's going on?" I asked.

"This…woman thinks she's entitled to this camp, when we found it first!"

"Look, we can't leave you right now, we have someone meeting us here, he should be back by nightfall, if we don't convince you to let us stay, we'll leave but we aren't negotiating anything until that someone gets back." I said blinking.

"Fine, when your friend gets back, you're gone."

"Or what? You going to beat me up?" Merle asked.

"More like my boyfriend will." She said her dark blue eyes flashing from Merle to me.

"Oh-."

"Shut up." I said to Merle. "Sorry about getting off on the wrong foot, my name's Aliyah." I said studying the girl, she had porcelain white skin, long black hair and was shorter than average and skin and bones.

"I'm Jailynn, why don't you two sit down and wait for your friend?" She suggested.

"Fine." I said and ushered Merle to the campfire.

Nightfall came and went but Daryl didn't show up and then the hunger started in, I was dehydrated and starving and I yearned for my bag which I left at home, I mean the prison. I wish Daryl would come back soon, were my last thoughts before unconsciousness took me in.

"_Aliyah." Daryl whispered as he woke me up from my sleep. I opened my eyes and smiled into his blue oceans._

"_Hey." I murmured._

"_I got some venison for us." He said._

"_It's food." I said although I didn't like meat but I couldn't be choosy. _

"_Good food, the best we've had in a long time." He said resting his hand on my growing stomach before pressing his lips to mine. He nibbled on my lip and I opened my eyes during the kiss. I then realized it wasn't Daryl kissing me but a walker eating my face. I tried to scream and kick the monster off of me, it opened its eyes and the blue color was all too familiar. I quickly covered my stomach I wasn't going to let my baby die with me._

I woke up in a cold sweat, it was still dark out but I knew sleep wasn't going to find me after that peculiar dream. I then heard rustling from the woods, I grabbed my knife ready to attack.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note:

Hello everybody! I'm actually on track with this story! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, like a lot! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do! Thank you guys so much! I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:

Chapter 10:

**Darssy0405:** Haha, that's what I'm attempting!

**FanficGirl10:** Aw, thanks

**DarylDixonsWife:** thank you darling

**Crazywritinggirl96:** haha, I love supplying those images ;)

**Jedi-stark:** thanks!

**xShyxPandax18: **yes, yes it will be!

**Sissymac:** haha yay!

**Missy7293: **thanks!

Chapter 11:

**Sissymac:** yes, I love trouble!

**xXRoweenaJAugustineXx: **I respect that, thanks anyways!

**DarylDixonsWife:** Nope, you can count on me!

**FanFicGirl10: **Just a dream, love, Aliyah just dreamt that up! And thank you!

**Anon: **Literally laughed at this, ok, enjoy your pain honey, hey I can't please everyone!

**Catia**: haha thank you!

**Dreamerforlife500: **aw, thanks! I really appreciate that!

Emily xoxo

My breathing hitched as the rustling grew louder and closer, walker or not I got a feeling that I would need backup. I jumped over the fire pit, twisting my ankle as I did so and tried to wake Merle. His blue eyes opened, clouded in a sleepy daze. "Someone or something is in the woods." I said as I got up and walked over to where the rustling was. "Is it Daryl?" I mouthed to him.

"What?" He mouthed back clearly not understanding me. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. A tall figure still disguised in the shadows was drawing nearer. It definitely wasn't Daryl or a walker. Finally, he got close enough to notice us.

"Jai, is that you?" He asked.

"No, but Jailynn-." Merle groaned as a knife was pushed into his stomach. My shrill scream woke Jailynn out from a dead slumber.

"How could you?" I cried as I tried to blink away the tears.

"Get the fuck out of my camp." His deep gravelly voice said.

"Jayceon!" Jailynn yelled once she figured out what was going on.

"Who are these people?"

"Survivors, waiting on a friend, you promised you wouldn't do this anymore!" She sobbed.

"Babe, it's either kill or be killed you choose." He said.

"They weren't hurting anyone!" She said. I sighed and took off running, cringing at the stinging pain in my ankle. I stripped off my shirt as I tried to run to the lake. I dampened my shirt to get off the excess dirt off and then walked as fast as I could back to Merle. I tied my shirt around his wound, my small shirt barely fit around him, so it was extremely tight.

"I'm sorry about your friend." Jayceon said.

"Yeah, you better fucking be sorry. I said as I lifted up an unconscious Merle from the ground, he must've hit his head on the way down. I strung his arm around my shoulder; the blood was beginning to seep through my thin shirt. "It's alright, Merle, you'll be just fine. Daryl we'll come here and we'll leave." I said as his eyes fluttered open. I almost collapsed under Merle's sturdy weight multiple times before I propped him up against the tree. I sighed in disappointment at myself, I should've handled the rustling by myself, then Merle wouldn't be hurt and my ankle wouldn't be twisted. "Got any water?" I called out. Without a response a bottle of water was kicked over to me. I put it to Merle's lips and he greedily drank in the water. "Sleep, I'll wake you later." I said.

An hour later, Merle was sleeping with a flushed face, he was dehydrated and in pain. Jailynn and Jayceon were arguing back and forth about something. I just wanted Daryl to get here so we could leave, I was worried but he said he'd be back and I believe him. I was cold, starving and topless but I couldn't bear to think of myself when I'd nearly gotten Merle killed.

"Hey, Merle, wake up!" Daryl yelled when he strolled into camp.

"He's hurt." I said looking up to him.

"What do you mean, he's hurt?" He asked, curiosity in his eyes when he roamed my barely clad torso.

"He got stabbed by one of the people in this camp." I said, Daryl opened his mouth to speak again but I cut him off. "He'll be fine Daryl, it's just a stomach wound." I said sending a reassuring smile his way. Daryl nodded and reached into his pocket.

"Give him these." He said pulling out a pill bottle. I raised my eyebrow in confusion; I didn't know he took pills.

"Don't look like something died, I took them from him earlier he used to be a druggie, no use in getting hooked now." He said and I nodded in understandment and shook Merle until he woke up.

"Take this; it'll help the pain, Daryl's back." I said smiling down at him.

"Are you babying my brother?" Daryl asked.

"He's hurt."

"So are you." He said.

"I'm fine." I said and continued giving Merle his meds.

"Thanks, Blondie."

"No problem, I'm sorry this happened."

"I'm fine." He said.

"Don't lie." I said helping him stand.

"I ain't a pussy." He commented.

"I didn't say you were."

"Let's go!" Merle ordered Daryl. Daryl nodded and we began walking after Daryl had a few choice words with Jayceon.

"Here, wear this." Daryl said tossing his leather vest at me. I smiled as I shrugged it on and the woodsy manly scent of Daryl filled my nose.

After stopping to help a family on a bridge Daryl and Merle were fighting. "There was a baby!" Daryl yelled.

"Oh otherwise you would've just left them for the biters?" Merle yelled.

"Man, I went back for you, you weren't there, I didn't cut off your hand neither, you did that, way before they left you on that roof, you asked for it!"

"You know, you know what's funny to me? You and Sheriff Rick are like this now, right? I bet you never told him that we were planning on robbing that camp blind, did you? It didn't happen did it? You know why because I wasn't there to help you!"

"When we were kids, who left who then?" Daryl asked.

"What? Is that why I lost my hand?" Merle screamed.

"You lost your hand because you're a simpleminded piece of shit!" Daryl screamed and Merle dove for him, pushing him to the ground ripping his shirt off in his efforts. It was like the world moved in slow motion as my eyes were glued to the numerous scars on his back.

"I didn't know you-."

"Yeah you did he did the same to you, that's why you left first." Daryl said getting up.

"I had to man; I would've killed him otherwise!" Daryl began walking away and I ran after him. "Where you going?" Merle yelled.

"Back where I belong."

"I can't go with you; I damn near killed that black bitch and that Chinese kid!"

"He's Korean."

"Whatever man it doesn't matter, I just can't go with you!"

"You know I may be the one walking away, but you're the one who's leaving…again."

"Oh my God, Daryl, I'm so sorry!" I said tears in my eyes threatening to overflow.

"Yeah, well, don't be." He said.

"Daryl, don't push me away." I pleaded.

"Don't push your luck." He said his voice hoarse. I walked over to him and grabbed his arm, making him turn to me. I pressed my lips to his frozen state.

"Daryl, I know you're hurting." I said after I released him. "I also know we have something special going for us, promise me you'll talk later?" I said looking up into his eyes.

"Fine." He said turning around. "You look badass in that by the way." He said and I blushed in response.

"I kind of miss home."

"I guess it's where we belong." I smiled at him.

"Yeah, I hope you realize we have a lot of talking to do." I said remembering Merle's comment about robbing the camp.

"Whatever." He said as we began the silent walk home.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! I just wanted to take a moment to talk to you all. You guys can follow me on twitter and instagram to get a glimpse inside what I'm like and what I'm up to and how updates are going or even what I think about the new walking dead episodes when they are on. Starting tonight with the new episode of the walking and talking dead I'll be on twitter talking about what I think. My username is x_love_emily_x for both twitter and instagram :-) I'd love to be a more connects author so go on and give me a follow ;) Anyways time to thank you lovely peeps for reviewing:

**DarylDixonsWife: **aww thanks doll

**FanFicGirl10:** lol we'll have to see and I naturally love Merle I don't know why.

**dreamerforlife500:** Thanks! I'm so glad you're liking my story! Haha, I love the vest too! And oh yeah, she was badass in that vest. and thanks! Hope you like the chapter!

**Sissymac: **Good things don't last long, sissymac, they just don't, you'll see in this chapter! and yeah, that really would've sucked!

Thanks to all who are reading and reviewing, I wouldn't be here without yous!

Love y'all, Emily xoxo

* * *

The gunshots could be heard from far away and as we drew nearer and nearer to home stray bullets landed by our feet and buzzed by us, considering the direction we were headed in we knew these were our group's bullets. It would really suck to be killed by our own. I knew the group would accept us back home, they'd be stupid not to. Even with Rick on the crazy train he's not blind enough to recognize how important Daryl is to the group. I had a feeling the only reason why they'd let me stay is because I'm close to Daryl. I wasn't stupid enough to not realize that if I left Daryl wouldn't be coming with me. "Get behind me." Daryl said.

"What? No, I'm not using you as a personal shield." I said frantically.

"I said get behind me." He said.

"And you know what I said? No." I said and picked up the pace. He shook his head at me and grunted something under his breath.

Daryl ran out of the woods first, aiming his crossbow for the walkers surrounding Rick. I spotted Herschel lying in the grass and I shook my head as I ran out to him. "Are you alright?" I asked.

"Just fine." He said grunting and narrowing his eyes as he tried to take down a target.

"Give me your gun, Herschel, I'll take care of you." I offered. He opened his mouth to protest. "You need to concentrate on shielding yourself for your daughters." I nodded as he passed me the gun.

"You're fearless, like Daryl." He commented.

"Believe me, I wasn't always like this, this world changes you. Besides, its fear that'll get you killed anyways." I said as I bit my lip and began firing the gun. It wasn't too long before the gun was out of ammo. "I need more ammo." I said.

"That's all I had on me." He said.

"Shit." I said. "Lay down flat and don't move." I said and he complied. I slid one leg back carefully as a bullet grazed my arm sending a searing pain through me. I bit my tongue until it bled and I was flat against the ground. I would be alright. I promised myself as I scooted in front of Herschel. More bullets flew, whoever was shooting had pinpointed our location. I squeezed my eyes closed as a bullet went clean through my arm. Inside my head I was screaming an endless list of profanities but I couldn't draw any more attention to us. It was then when my worst nightmare happened. An orange van crashed through our fence and stopped and walkers became pouring out. "Motherfucker." I cursed. The vans began speeding away just as another truck pulled up. It stopped in front of Herschel and I, Glenn got out and he and Michonne helped Herschel into the truck. Glenn walked over to me and went to grab my good arm. "Don't fucking touch me." I grunted and hopped into the back of the truck. I stared at the blood trickle down my arm. The pain was searing but numbing everything I felt inside the familiar rush of pain crashed through my body. I was becoming drunk off of the pain. The truck jerked to a stop and I hopped out of the back before the ignition could be turned off.

"You saved my Dad! Thank you so much." Maggie gushed. I shrugged at her; it was like a fire of anger was ignited in me. I was in no mood for talking or for being grateful. I looked around at the group as my breathing became choppy and quick. All I saw was red but I didn't know why, it wasn't for any of them. I had to do something, go somewhere before it got ugly.

"I'm out." I said running into the prison and grabbing my knife and gun.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Daryl demanded as I jogged towards the gate.

"Away from you." I said and continue running.

"You need stitches."

"You don't know what I need!" I screamed.

"I swear Aliyah if you don't get your ass back here I'm not going after you."

"Good, don't come after me, don't come near me or talk to me or even think about me!" I exclaimed.

"What happened?" He said.

"Look, I need some space." I said venom in my voice.

"You're going to go out there and die, is that what you want? Should I have left you in Woodbury, huh?" Daryl demanded, raising his voice.

"Maybe you should have!" I said hot tears streaming down my face.

"Special my ass." He said and stormed away from me. He didn't have to explain, I knew exactly what he was referring to. I remained frozen, paralyzed by his words. I may be being stupid and immature and obviously Daryl knows how to snap me out of it.

"You win!" I yelled to him, knowing it wouldn't make any difference. I walked over to Herschel, I felt defeated and like I had ruined everything within minutes. I know myself better than anyone and I knew I wasn't ok with what happened back at Woodbury, I knew that I would have an outburst to the brink of insanity, I just didn't expect it'd be this soon. I shouldn't have expected to be fine; I've never been emotionless and never will be. This world does change you but unfortunately you are who you've always been just with a little bit of a different outlook. I wanted to go home, I wanted to see my home and see my room. My zebra print bedspread and my butterfly chair, my laptop that was still fully charged. I needed to go back to where I came from but it's never going to be possible because that world is gone.

After I had been stitched up I looked around the prison, my supposed home and where I supposedly belong. Why was I an outcast? Why did everyone look at me like I was going to shatter? Because I was, I wasn't ok and I didn't know how to fix it.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note:

Meh too lazy to thank everyone but thanks a lot and don't forget to follow me on twitter/instagram for updates: x_love_emily_x

Love ya'll, Emily, xoxo

After my outburst I spent a lot of time in my cell and no one bothered with me. I spent the time thinking about what to do next. Was mine and Daryl's relationship salvageable or did he think I was crazy just like the rest of the group? I sat and thought for what for eternity. When I thought I would mentally combust if I thought for another second I got up and left my cell. It hurt when everyone in the room snapped their heads to look at me. I wasn't a dangerous animal who was ready to kill, what they didn't understand was that I was just hurt. They hadn't gone through what I had so I can understand that they can't comprehend the way I feel. "Look, I'm sorry about my…little outburst, I'm just dealing with a lot of things right now. I never meant to act like that." I said.

"You're fine, we understand, you're a victim of some terrible things." Glenn said.

"You see, that's just the thing, I don't want to be victimized, so what if I was…raped." I choked out. "I have to deal with it on my own. Don't sympathize with me." I said.

"Aliyah, you're not ok, you need to take a step back and heal." Rick said.

"I'm not broken; I'm just as good and as useful as I always have been."

"I'm not disagreeing but if you don't come to terms with what has happened, you'll regret it once it all comes crashing down on you."

"Maybe you should take your own advice." I said. Rick didn't know what he was talking about; he's almost operating the crazy train. I looked around the room searching for the one person I needed to fix things with.

"He's with Merle." Shane said.

"Thanks." I said and walked away. I wasn't fully comfortable with the group because I knew they weren't comfortable around me.

Finally I found Daryl talking with Merle about plans. "Hey, I figured you'd want this back." I said slipping off Daryl's leather vest. He grunted and took it back but didn't put it back on. "Look, can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked and nervously bit my lip. He raised an eyebrow at me but got up and I walked outside, his footsteps following me. I stood facing the fence, my back towards him. I was intent staring at the Georgia sky as the sun plunged into the depths of the unknown and made way for the moon. "I didn't mean it." I said. Once again a grunt in response was given. "I'm foolish really for a lot of reasons. Thinking my rape was nothing was just one of them but mostly because I truly believed there was hope for us. I thought that there was an us but every time I open up something happens to make me regret it. Daryl, I thought I felt love for you, well I knew I did but I thought it was returned. I thought maybe just maybe you weren't the unemotional asshole you came off to be. I feel bad for you Daryl I do. People like you aren't born the way you are. I hate the person who did this to you; there is no excuse for turning a person cold. I know something terrible happened to you and I'm sorry. I'm not going to sit around and feel bad for myself anymore. Fuck this life by this point I have no reason for living, I'm not going to kill myself, I'm just going to be the ruthless bitch I should be. I'm so sick of having my emotions fucked. So, no more me and you, you have to understand that right?" I asked. He was silent. After a minute I turned around even though my lips were trembling and my eyes were once again watery. Daryl's eyes displayed no emotion like an empty book.

"Say it to my face and maybe I'll believe you." He said. I looked down.

"No more me and you Daryl, I can't." I said. His rough calloused hand firmly squeezed my jaw. He forced me to look him straight in the eyes.

"I said say it to my face." He demanded. I stared at him for a moment it was then I realized I was wrong, everything I said was wrong. Daryl was the opposite of what I thought he was. I shook my head and looked down letting my tears hit the concrete. Since when did I become so blind? I squeezed my eyes together before looking back up at Daryl. I was such a disappointment.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"You say that a lot." He said.

"I'm delusional and possibly the most brainless person or walker on this planet and I'm just so fucking confused." I said once again closing my eyes, a reflex that I had. I could barely face myself, let alone Daryl. I then felt Daryl's soft breath rush over my skin, when I opened my eyes his lips were millimeters from my face. He slowly closed the distance between us and his warm lips were interlocked with mine. I ran my hands through his hair as his arms wrapped around my waist. His tongue brushed against my bottom lip as my tongue met his, our tongues entered a war fighting for dominance. When we needed air I began trailing kisses down his jaw as his hands slipped under my shirt and caressed my sides sending me trembling. I kissed his lips once and pressed my body against his. This was just what we needed to work out our frustrations with each other. I felt his hardness press against me and I moaned as he bit my neck. "Daryl." I whispered through my jagged breathing. "I want to do this." I said and lifted my shirt over my head and tossed it onto the ground as Daryl stripped his shirt and he then moved to unclasp my bra as I bent down to pull off my sweats. I pressed my breasts against his chest and bit my lip and I attempted to sexily gaze up at him.

"You're sure you're ready?" He asked his voice a deep husky tone I hadn't heard before.

"I need this more than you would know." I said pulling him closer to me. I pulled us down to the ground and I laid on the concrete as Daryl took off his pants. My eyes widened as my eyes roamed his body. He lowered himself so he was hovering above me. I pushed his wrists so his body collapsed onto mine I didn't care that the breath was knocked out of me, I was already breathless. The skin against skin contact felt completely unreal to me and I arched my back to move things along. I noticed him trembling, he was nervous but it was adorable, he was obviously never this close to someone before. He slowly entered me it was gentle, nothing like my rape. I needed to be shown a good time so I could forget about the bad. "Mm, Daryl." I said as he got into a steady rhythm. Our breathing soon became ragged and fast, the inevitable was happening, I was on the edge and as I felt Daryl twitch inside me I wrapped my legs around Daryl and screeched in pure ecstasy. I let myself climax, Daryl was a true gentleman, letting me finish first. He quickly pulled out of me. I looked at him confused but when he came on me I then understood, he was more responsible than I was. I sat up and kissed him long and hard. "You were amazing." I said. He shrugged and pulled on his clothes. "Daryl, seriously, you're so amazing in every way." I gushed.

"Don't lie." He said as he buttoned his pants. I stood up and put one hand on his shoulder and traced his scars with the other. He tensed.

"I would never." I said. "Relax, I would never hurt you in a million years." I said.

"Don't touch me." He said.

"We aren't go through this again, we just fixed us, let's keep it that way please." I pleaded. I could hear baby Judith's cries from the prison. "Also, let's be thankful you were smart so we wouldn't end up with one of those." I said rolling my eyes and quickly throwing on my clothes.

"Whatever, let's go inside." He said. I smiled and followed him inside for once things were going right but I wasn't dumb enough to think it'd last forever.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note:

Okie dokie, here's chapter 15. It turned out different from what I thought it would be…I guess I was feeling down about what happened last episode and everything in general so this happened. I don't know I think it kinda sucks but whatever. Thanks everyone for everything and I'm really sorry if you're disappointed with this chapter.

Love y'all, Emily xoxo

(I know I owe you all a million thank yous.) Really feeling bad about this chapter, it sucks :'(

Heated discussion drifted through the halls of the prison as Daryl and I made our way down to the source of the argument. Merle was clearly busy stirring up trouble. "Hey, there Blondie!" He said when he noticed mine and Daryl's arrival.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked as my eyes drifted over the room, the argument was obviously Merle against everyone.

"Merle can't stay here and if Rick is too blind to see it then I think someone else needs to step up and handle it." Glenn said.

"Look, Glenn, Merle isn't as bad as he seems, people like Merle just need a hug." I suggested walking over to Merle and wrapping my arms around him and resting my head against his shoulder. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around my waist; he clearly hasn't been hugged in years. "See, Merle can play nice." I said looking up into his blue eyes.

"He's the one who got you raped and you're just all team Merle. I wouldn't get that close to him, he'll give you the clap." Glenn continued.

"Maybe you're the one who should leave." I grunted.

"Maybe you are." He shot back.

"Gladly, I'll take Merle and we'll leave all right? Just so you can be happy and have a little pity party and lose every ounce of humanity left in your body." Surprisingly that seemed to strike a chord with Glenn but he shook his head.

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out." He said coldly, Maggie looked pissed and walked off.

"Glenn, I don't think you're a douchebag, I understand Merle beat you up and all that Woodbury shit but maybe you should man up and try to be a normal human being and give him a second chance."

"Merle is racist, nearly got us all killed before your ass strolled into our lives, nearly killed us after you came. I think he's had enough chances."

"Whatever, I'm going for a walk, thanks for ruining my day, Glenn."

"Is there even a thing such as a good day?" He asked.

"Actually, yes." I said. "I'm going for a walk. Want to come, Daryl?" I asked.

"No." He said and walked off. I rolled my eyes and walked over to him.

"At least kiss me goodbye." I said wrapping my arms around his neck. He pushed me away and I looked up at him with a look of confusion.

"You ain't my girl, don't think you are either." He said. Annoyed, I sighed and walked towards the door.

"You wanna come, Merle?" I asked.

"Guess so." He shrugged. I grabbed my knife before we set out.

It was nearly dark by the time Merle and I got far enough away from the prison to say we were anywhere but the prison.

"I know you're not a bad guy, Merle."

"Yeah, I am." He said.

"No, I can recognize a bad person when I see them; you aren't like the Governor or my rapists." I said.

"You don't know me, sweetheart, I hate to tell you but you don't." He said.

"You're right I don't know you but I don't know the Governor or my rapists either and I know they're bad people."

"You think you know people, you think you know Daryl but you don't." He said.

"We weren't talking about Daryl."

"I was just giving examples."

"Whatever, even if you are bad I'm just saying that I'm on your side." I said dragging my feet against the ground.

"You want that one?" Merle asked referring to the walker slowly wandering the street.

"Not really." I said and he shrugged and ran up to the walker. He effortlessly stuck his knife in and out of the walker's brain and it crumpled to the ground.

"I know you slept with my brother today." He said.

"Your point?" I asked my cheeks lightly flushing red.

"Just saying." He said mocking my earlier words. "Don't get knocked up."

"I'm not planning on it. Bringing a child into this world is cruel."

"So, if you get knocked up, don't worry, I got some pills for you." He said.

"I wouldn't take them." I said shaking my head.

"Why the hell not?"

"If you take the chances better accept the risks."

"Great, another idiot." He said grunting.

"Shut up, Merle." I said punching his shoulder.

"If you spread like butter you're going to have a lot of trouble, that's all." He said smirking.

"Merle shut the fuck up, please." I said. "Are you even in the position to give advice?" I asked.

"Do you see me with any kids?" He asked.

"It's not like I'm having any more anything with Daryl, our…whatever we have is too complicated." I said.

"That's cause your Daryl's first girlfriend." He said.

"Whoa, don't get ahead of me, we aren't dating." I said.

"Well, damn, close enough." He laughed.

"Not exactly."

"You kill that one. Show the whore whose boss." He said pointing to a walker that was down the road.

"I don't like killing, I don't do it for the thrill." I said.

"Look, in order to survive you got to kill things and people so get over it."

"I've never killed anyone." I said. "Besides walkers."

"They aren't people." He said.

"That's why I didn't count them."

"Look, it don't matter if it's a person or a walker or a fucking dog, if it's going to kill you, you kill it first. I'll take you out for killing lessons, you need it."

"You've killed people?" I asked.

"Don't look so surprised, damn."

"What about Daryl?"

"That boy ain't got no balls."

"That's not an answer."

"Just kill the damn walker, Aliyah!" He nearly yelled. I sighed and jogged up to the walker who was still a distance down the road. I closed my eyes before I went in for the kill. The gut wrenching sound of skull cracking filled my ears as the walker collapsed to the ground. I jogged back to Merle. "Good, next time don't take so damn long."

"Think we should head back?" I asked.

"Guess so, going back to that damn prison is exactly what I want to do." He said sarcastically.

Merle wasn't as bad as everyone thought he was, he wasn't a monster or terrible. Everyone doesn't see that he had a different way of dealing with his emotions. I learned a lot about Merle today and gained a hell of a lot of respect for him. I know I can convince everyone to let him stay, I just don't know how.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, whose missed me? I missed you all! I thank you all for everything you do! Keep it up!

Love you guys!

Emily xoxo

"I'm going to see the Governor." Rick said.

"Are you sure about that?" I asked, shocked that he would be willing to meet with such a despicable man.

"Positive, Andrea talked something out with the Governor and he decided to meet with me and figure out a deal."

"How did Andrea meet with him?" I asked.

"She wanted to see if he'd be open to a negotiation, she met with him."

"Yeah, he was open to more than that, she slept with him." Merle said snickering in the corner. "Seriously, sugar tits, you'd bump some uglies with him but not with me?" Andrea ignored the comment but I was honestly disgusted by her.

"It was the only way." She said.

"Someone's clearly not the conversationalist." I said rolling my eyes. "I'll go with you, Rick." I said.

"Great, well, get ready." He said. I nodded in agreement.

"There's nothing to get ready." I said. He shook his head.

"I think you guys should be preparing for war, I don't see why you're thinking he's going to be peaceful." Merle said.

"He gave me his word, he's open for a negotiation, he doesn't want war just as much as we don't." Andrea argued.

"You keep forgetting, I know him, you don't."

"I'm going, that's it. You don't have a say in this, Merle." Rick said. "Let's go, Leah, Daryl, and Herschel." I tensed at the sound of his name as I felt the anxiety build within me and I began shaking, I wasn't prepared to face him yet. We had been so close and then he turned away again. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I was comforted by Merle's blue eyes as he nodded at me.

"You'll be fine, sweetheart, go on." I nodded.

"Thank you…so much." I said but felt Daryl's eyes on me.

"No problem." He said and slapped my shoulder. "So, little brother, you're sticking your neck out again…for what?" Merle asked. Daryl shrugged. "You really think he's going to make a compromise?" He said.

"We'll see." Daryl said looked down.

I followed Rick as we walked through a field. The sun was high in the afternoon sky, it warmed my face but the air still had a chilly bite to it. I tripped over a rock, despite the burning in my knee I stood up quickly and wiped the dirt and small pebbles off of my hands. I inspected the buildings as Daryl signaled for us to follow him in between two of the structures. It felt like we were setting the scene of a horror movie. Daryl picked up the pace and we began lightly jogging through the grass, it was silent besides the sound of our breathing. Daryl stopped by a walker and knelt down beside it, checking to see if the blood was fresh. Rick looked at me then Daryl, then signaled Daryl to move forward. I followed Rick into a building and we stepped in, guns drawn. We heard light footsteps from somewhere within the building and I knew instantly it was him. His footsteps weren't quiet and sneaky, they were distant yet confident. Rick cocked his gun and I knew he was ready for action, I didn't know if he was ready yet or if he knew the one present was indeed the Governor. As we inched forward I glanced at the setup, a table with two chairs obviously not coincidental. The Governor came into view, his eye patch covering his right eye. He didn't look happy; he held his hands up in innocent. Yes, he was a total angel, wasn't he? I thought sarcastically. He smiled when Rick's composure didn't change. "We have a lot to talk about." He said shrugging as he put his hands down.

"You attacked us, makes things pretty clear."

"I was trying to make things clear, I could've killed you all, I didn't.

"And here we are…" Rick said. The Governor moved his hands and Rick drew on him.

"I'm going to remove my weapon, show that I'm negotiating, I'd like you to do the same." I noticed Daryl peer through the window, I shook my head. "May I?" He asked and Rick cocked his head in agreement but also confusion he didn't put his guns down. "See, no trouble, now you." The Governor said and laughed gently. "Suit yourself, now, I'd like the girl to leave, I've seen more than enough of her and I have nothing to say to her either." He said sitting down. Rick nodded for me to leave.

"You sure?" I asked.

"We'll be fine." Rick said.

"Fine, don't have too much fun now." I said and exited the building.

"Why is he already in there?" Daryl asked me once he saw me.

"The hell if I know, they both wanted me out of there." I said. Herschel pulled up, Daryl walked over to him.

"He's already in there, just sat down with Rick."

"I don't see any cars." Herschel said looking around.

"Yeah, it don't feel right, keep it running." Daryl said and Herschel nodded.

"They kicked me out of there, they want to talk like men…I guess." I said to Herschel.

"Rick doesn't want to seem as if he needs you, it's one on one." He said.

"Whatever."

"Heads up!" Daryl said banging the hood as we all heard motors approaching. Daryl drew his crossbow as the truck pulled up. Two men got out of the car, "what the hell? Why's he already in there?" He asked. The driver smiled and shrugged. We fell into a tense silence as we waited and a man with glasses began writing. I grabbed Daryl's arm and pulled him to the side.

"While we're waiting, can't we talk it out?" I asked looking up into his eyes. He looked back to where Herschel was.

"There ain't nothing to talk out; you can't be attached to me. I ain't…boyfriend material, you know that." He said.

"I think we are a little too old to be discussing boyfriend and girlfriend material Daryl, I wasn't looking for a boyfriend but I found a friend in you…I found a partner." I said. "Are you willing to sacrifice us because you're afraid of opening up?" I asked.

"It's not what I'm worried about." He said glancing back to Herschel.

"I don't see what went wrong Daryl and I told myself I wouldn't try to fix us so I'm not. If you realize that there is something worth fixing you come to me and tell me when you're ready to talk or something."

"It's not gonna happen; I don't need to talk, alright?" He asked.

"Then what choice does that leave me?" I asked.

"You need to choose anything." He said.

"What is your problem, Daryl; please just tell me what went wrong. Give me closure and I'll leave you alone. You didn't give up on me right before we…you know, so why give up now?" I asked.

"This isn't any time to talk about it."

"If you're afraid of losing me or whatever, you know I'm strong, I don't give up easily. Hell I know I'm a little hypocritical but seriously I'm not easily taken down. Merle came back, you found him…shouldn't that give you hope?" I asked.

"I said this isn't any time to be talking about this."

"Daryl, I'm afraid of losing you, I'm scared to death that something will go wrong or you'll lose hope or not care. I don't want to lose you, can't you see that?" I asked.

"We're done talking." He said and walked back to Herschel. I felt so desperate and I felt defeated. How can you fight for someone who can't open up? I missed Google; Google would tell me what to do. Hell, Google had the answers to everything.


	17. Chapter 17

"Maybe I should go in." Herschel suggested.

"The Governor thought it'd best if he and Rick spoke privately." The man with the glasses said.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asked a little more annoyed than he should've been.

"Milton Mamet."

"Great, he brought his butler." Daryl said. The driver of the car began laughing.

"I'm his advisor." Milton said.

"What kind of advice?" Daryl asked.

"Planning and biters, uh you know I'm sorry I don't feel like I need to explain myself to the henchmen."

"You better watch your mouth, Sunshine." Daryl said.

"Look if you and I are going to be pointing guns at each other all day, do me a favor, shut your mouth." The driver said which sent my blood boiling.

"Look asshole, I don't know who you think you are…I don't care how tough you are or how big of a gun you have. You're not going to stand around all fucking day and disrespect my group." I said as Daryl walked up to him looking him straight in the eye. The driver turned his eyes onto me for a second until Herschel cut him off.

"Look, we don't need this, if all goes South in there we'll all be at each other's throats soon enough." The driver stared at Daryl with a strange sense of humor. Daryl turned away from him and took a few steps away.

After about a half hour of silence, the driver closed the door to the building the Governor and Rick were speaking in, a strange thing to do, none of us were pining over their next words anyways. After another few minutes, Daryl began pacing. I let my hair down from the messy bun it was in and undid another button on my flannel button down, my black tank top now exposed. The afternoon sun was getting hotter and I was beginning to sweat. "There's no reason not to use our time together to explore the issues ourselves." Milton said after Daryl huffed.

"Boss said to sit tight and shut up."

"Don't you mean the Governor?" Daryl said causing the driver to advert his eyes to him.

"It's a good thing that they're sitting down especially after what happened. They're going to work it out, no one wants another battle." Milton said.

"I wouldn't call it a battle." Daryl said.

"I would and I did, I recorded it." Milton said holding up some paper.

"For what?" Daryl asked and I nodded.

"Somebody's got to keep a record of what we've gone through, it'll be a part of our history."

"That makes sense." Herschel said nodding in agreement.

"I've got dozens of interviews…" Milton said walking eagerly walking forward to Herschel but all of our attention was on the walkers approaching. Daryl walked off, crossbow pointed, while the driver had his gun but also grabbed a baseball bat. I jogged after them, my gun ready to fire but after Daryl put down his crossbow I wondered what he was up to.

"After you…"Daryl said. I rolled my eyes; this was going to be a game of masculinity.

"You first."

"Seriously boys?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Pussy." The driver said and killed a walker with his baseball bat. I decided to sit back and watch the boys show off their skills. After their little showdown they were best friends, apparently. Daryl pulled out a package of cigarettes from the walker's pocket.

"How lucky is that?" Daryl commented, popping one in his mouth and offering the driver one. He declined. "Douchebag." Daryl murmured and lit his cigarette with a lighter in his pocket. How convenient. I thought. "You army or something?" Daryl asked.

"Nah, I just…I just hate these things…after what they did…my wife…kids."

"Sucks." Daryl said taking another hit from his cigarette.

"Thanks." He said and nodded, clearly hurt from remembering.

"I understand." I said to him. They both turned their attention to me. "My family died before I even knew what happened. I'm Aliyah." I said nodded at him.

"Names Martinez." He said and we fell back into another silence. "You know this is a joke right, they ain't going to work anything out. They'll do their little dance and tomorrow or the next day they'll get the word."

"I know." Daryl said. Martinez asked for a cigarette and Daryl nodded. "You want one?" Daryl asked me.

"Nah, sorry, I'm not that badass." I said with a small smile.

When the Governor and Rick finally walked out the tension in the atmosphere was automatically restored. Silently the Governor got into his car as did Martinez and Milton. Rick got back into the car, Daryl got on his motorcycle and Herschel got into the car. "Are we on good enough terms that I can ride with you?" I asked Daryl. He shrugged but slipped off his crossbow and handed it to me. I put it on and got on his motorcycle. We drove past the Governor's car and Martinez winked at me and in return I gave him the finger. I wrapped my arms around Daryl and enjoyed the silent ride home. When we pulled back to the prison, Carol grimaced at the sight of Daryl and I riding together, she was starting to piss me off. Daryl was a little young for her anyways.

"Let's get inside." Rick ordered and gathered us all up and brought us inside. Once all of us were inside I stood next to Daryl and Carol was on his other side, I was across from Merle, who was becoming a really great friend to me. "So I met this Governor." Rick started. "Sat with him for quite a while…"

"Just the two of ya?" Merle asked and Rick nodded in response. "Should've gotten him while you had the chance bro." Merle said stepping aside.

"He wants the prison." Rick said. "He wants us gone, dead, he wants us dead. For what we did to Woodbury." He let it sink in for a few seconds. "We're going to war." Rick finished and walked off. Daryl nodded at Merle and Merle didn't return the action.

War with Woodbury sounded inevitable. I thought it was bound to happen but I thought that the Governor would try something more creative…a different tactic. He liked the element of surprise; I didn't see why he wouldn't try to utilize it now. Something wasn't right and I felt it in my soul, something bad was looming above all of our heads and it wasn't something any of us can control. Now was the time for me to make amends with Daryl because I don't know how long any of us have and I'm not losing him or myself while we aren't on good terms.


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, I'm sorry that it has been such a long time. I got into a car accident and it kind of messed up my life for quite a bit. I finished school and haven't had much inspiration lately anyways. I've been struggling with my depression and anxiety so yeah…it's been a while. So, I'm going to give this chapter a go. :)

Love you guys, Emily xoxo

A light breeze blew past me and the warm sun kissed my skin as I watched Daryl talk to Rick near the fence. It wasn't a confrontation, actually the opposite; Daryl seemed to agree with everything Rick was saying. I guess it was an issue I didn't need to be involved in. Rick passed me on the stairs and Daryl followed behind him but stopped next to me. I shifted my eyes onto his piercing eyes. "What was that all about?" I asked. Daryl shrugged.

"Just planning." He said.

"I don't need to know?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

"Nah, it ain't nothing to worry about."

"Good, I've been worrying about too much lately." I said looking down.

"Like what?"

"Everything, I guess but mostly…us." I said shrugging.

"Yeah, what about us?" He asked.

"That's the question, what about us? What's going to happen to us? Is it even worth trying to save us?"

"You see, you worry about the stupidest shit ever. We are what we are, just like it is what it is. Nothing's changed." He said. "At the end of the day, I'll still be me and you'll still be you. Ain't no sense in worrying."

"I know, I'm trying to get over it but I can't help but worry." I said.

"Well, stop, does it look like I'm worrying about us? Believe me we've all got bigger things to worry about." He said grunting.

"Daryl, I just want you to know that I care about you."

"Yeah, I know." He said adjusting his crossbow.

"Go, I know you're off to somewhere doing something."

"I'm going to talk to Glenn." He said.

"About what you and Rick talked about?" I asked.

"No, I need to make it right…and if I hear one more complaint about whatever we are from you, I'm not going to be happy." I nodded and stood up and kissed his cheek.

"You won't Daryl, but we still have some…things to talk about. Things that happened when we were gone." I said. He shrugged and walked off.

After setting up traps in the field I found myself sitting back on the stairs, enjoying the warm day. Daryl walked past me, heading into the prison. Before the door closed he looked at me. "Wanna help me look for Merle?"

"Sure." I said jumping at the offer for some quality time with him.

We entered the tombs, minutes later. "Merle! You down here?" Daryl yelled, his voice echoing slightly." "Merle!" Daryl called once again, raising his crossbow as he entered a new room. I followed him closely, Daryl was a great protector, his skills were beyond mine, that's for sure.

"Hey, little brother!" Merle said. "I see you brought your little girlfriend along." He said as I stood near the doorway.

"What the hell?" Daryl asked.

"I was just bout to holler bout at you." Merle said, rubbing his chin.

"What're you doing down here?"

"Eh, just looking for a little crystal meth." He said placing his hand on the file cabinet. "Yeah, I know, I shouldn't mess my life up when everything's going so sweet right?" He said with a laugh.

"You talk to Rick yet?" Daryl asked cautiously.

"Yeah, oh yeah! I'm in, but, um, he ain't got the stomach for it, he's going to buckle you know that right?" Merle asked. Daryl nodded.

"Yeah, if he does, he does." He said shrugging.

"You want him to?" Merle asked, and I creased my forehead, completely lost as to what they were talking about. Daryl sighed.

"Whatever he says goes." Merle snickered.

"Man, do you even possess a pair of balls, little brother?" Merle said raising an eyebrow. "Are they even attached?" Merle asked in disbelief. "I mean if they are, they belong to you, you used to call people like that sheep…what happened to you?" He continued.

"What happened with you and Glenn…and Maggie?"

"I've done worse, you need to grow up, things are different now. Your people look at me like I'm the devil." Merle said his eyes getting a little cloudy, my heart wrenched at the sight. I knew he wasn't a bad guy. "Grabbing up those lovebirds like that, huh, now y'all want to do the same damn thing I did. Snatch someone up and deliver them to the Governor, just like me, yeah. People do what they gotta do or they die." I gasped, who the hell were they giving to the Governor?

"You can't do things without people anymore, man." Daryl said, I agree but I was confused as hell. Merle scoffed.

"Maybe these people need a person like me around, do their dirty work, a bad guy. Yeah, maybe that's how it is now, huh?" Merle asked. "How does that hit you?"

"I just want my brother back." Daryl said his voice low.

"Get out of here, man." Merle said turning away. Daryl walked back to me.

"Uh, what in the hell was that all about?" I demanded.

"Nothing." Daryl said coldly.

"No, no, no, listen to me Daryl, you guys are planning on fucking delivering someone to the Governor? Are you out of your minds and what did you conveniently forget I was freaking standing there?"

"No, I didn't forget and we know what we are doing but I needed to talk to Merle, regardless of who the hell was standing there."

"This is what the huge secret is? That you're fucking someone in our group over. Ya know I didn't believe when Merle said that you two were planning on robbing the camp but now I do. I'm fucking disgusted with you, Daryl."

"Yeah, well, oh well." He shrugged.

"Oh well? What the fuck is wrong with you, Daryl?"

"You heard Merle; we do what we gotta do to survive."

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want to be a part of this fucking mess anymore. I should have left that first day."

"Yeah, I think you should've too." Daryl said. I screamed in frustration and ran away from Daryl. I wasn't spending another day in this prison where everyone just fucks each other over.

I packed up everything that I had and took a bottle of water for the road. I should have never even tried. "Where the hell are you going?" Daryl demanded.

"It was nice knowing you Daryl, and fuck as much as I love you, I'm leaving. You're not the fucking person I thought you were, none of you are." I said pushing the door open and slamming it closed. This time I knew Daryl wasn't going to argue with me, this was it. I was never going back to the prison ever again. I was doing fine on my own in the first place.


End file.
